Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Garcia Labor Faces Federal Indictment

A federal 40-count indictment was presented Tuesday for the Morristown, TN and Ohio based Garcia Labor Company, accused of employing 1,000 illegal immigrants for contract work between Dec. 1999 and November 2005.

Also named in the indictment were the company's president Maximino Garcia, his sister Dominga Carroll and H.R. director Gina Luciano, who have all pled not guilty.

According to a report in the Knoxville News Sentinel:

"All are charged with one count of conspiracy to induce illegal aliens to live in the United States, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Garcia faces another 16 counts of inducing illegal aliens to live in the country, and 19 counts of harboring illegal aliens.

Luciano is charged with 14 counts of inducing illegal aliens to live in the country, three counts of transporting illegal aliens, and three counts of harboring illegal aliens.

Each of the immigration charges carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The money laundering charges carry a maximum 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.

Prosecutors also want Garcia to forfeit $12 million - what the company earned from one year of its contracts with ABX - and property where the workers were housed in Wilmington, 42 miles east of Cincinnati."

The timing on this was most interesting, as I have had some conversations with a Texas-based newspaper reporter about immigration and illegal immigration and the impact it's had on East Tennessee. It's a truly thorny issue as the majority of manufacturing firms here in Morristown are foreign owned, which means the atmosphere in business circles is very friendly to foreign investments and recruting while local residents shutdowns of textile industrial companies which left the US and put thousands out of work.

One constant question has been why firms that recruit and hire illegals aren't prosecuted. In this case, they are - and at the federal level. Are more companies under scrutiny?

7 comments:

  1. Geez.. why wouldn't they start w/ WalMart?
    This country will fall apart w/o the immigrant population. What am I saying? This country fell apart in 2000, w/ a bogus election.

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  2. Anonymous6:29 AM

    Those are here illegally are using up our natural resources, not to mention tax dollars. We don't need more people in the USA. We don't need most of the people that are already here!

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  3. Anon - say what??

    No - wait - don't say another word. Please.

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  4. Anonymous11:14 AM

    No, Joe. Anon is on to something. Let's shoot anyone with an IQ lower that 120. That should thin the herd.

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  5. Well Ann - another War on Something Vague or Unpleasant is not going to improve anything except maybe weapon and ammo sales.

    If the goal is to 'thin the herd', let's just close the hospitals and stop selling medicine. The prices are so high anyway right?

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  6. Anonymous1:46 PM

    You're so silly. I was attempting to be humorous. Now I feel bad and I'm going to sulk. Maybe even hit the Mexican grocery and buy up all the flan as penance.

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  7. howls!!

    Mexican Penance! A new snack sensation!!

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