ALBANY, N.Y.-
Five former managers from a major crate and pallet manufacturer pleaded guilty Tuesday to hiring illegal immigrants, part of a larger federal crackdown on employers who break the law to get cheap labor.
The pleas came 10 months after federal agents staged sweeping raids at 40 IFCO Systems sites in 26 states. More than 1,100 people were arrested on administrative immigration charges in the April raids.
The managers hired the undocumented foreign workers, mostly Mexicans, as a competitive advantage and withheld benefits and overtime from them, federal prosecutors said.
“These are management-level people that it is fair to say were employing this as a business practice, hiring illegal aliens,” said U.S. Attorney Glenn Suddaby.
James Rice, 37, of Houston, an executive regional general manager of IFCO Systems, pleaded guilty to conspiring to employ illegal workers. Robert Belvin, 43, of Stuart, Fla., a former general manager of the Albany IFCO plant, pleaded guilty to two felony conspiracy charges.
The two executives could face up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tina Sciocchetti said.
Defense lawyers said they reviewed prosecution material that included taped conversations involving their clients.
“Under the circumstances, we thought the only rational thing to do was to plead guilty,” said Belvin’s lawyer, Terence Kindlon.
Three local plant officials, Dario Salzano, 36, of Amsterdam, N.Y., Scott Dodge, 44, of Elmira, N.Y., and Michael Ames, 44, of Shrewsbury, Mass., each pleaded guilty Tuesday to one misdemeanor. They could face up to six months in jail and $3,000 fines for each illegal alien employed, though they likely will get reduced terms because they cooperated, Sciocchetti said.
Charges were pending against two other IFCO managers in Houston and Cincinnati.
One of the IFCO sites was a plant in Commerce City, Colo., where 38 people were arrested.
In his plea agreement, Belvin said he was told IFCO’s business model was to use Hispanic laborers, and “Rice told him that the company had not had success with ‘white boys’ and non-Hispanics in its plants.”
IFCO said in a statement that it was not corporate strategy to hire undocumented workers. After the raids, the company reviewed its employees and enrolled in a federal screening program for workers.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said the raids were part of a stepped-up effort to cut down on illegal immigration by targeting employers.
Federal raids resulted in the arrest of more than 1,200 meatpacking workers in six states late last year. Last month, more than 750 illegal immigrants in Los Angeles and 53 trash collection workers in Texas were arrested.
The Netherlands-based IFCO describes itself as the leading services company in America for wooden pallets used in shipping and storage. It reported $108 million in profits in 2006 on revenues of $647 million.
