By Chaille Brindley
MaterialsHandling.Net
4/4/2010
Two former IFCO employees recently pleaded guilty in federal court to criminal charges in connection with immigration raids conducted in 2006. William Hoskins, 33, and Tomas Soto Castillo, 56, both of Cincinnati, Ohio pled guilty to a felony conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens and to encourage and induce illegal aliens to remain in the United States. Soto Castillo also pled guilty to a felony conspiracy to knowingly hire illegal aliens.
Hoskins and Soto Castillo were former New Market Development managers for the Pallet Management Division of IFCO Systems North America. They pled guilty before Judge Lawrence Kahn in the U.S. District Court for Northern New York. Due to the time limitations before going to press, IFCO could not be reached for comment about the latest guilty pleas by former employees. Hoskins faces a potential sentence of up to ten years in prison while Soto Castillo could be imprisoned for up to five years. Both defendants face the possibility of a fine of up to $250,000.
On January 23, 2009, Hoskins, Soto Castillo and five IFCO executives were indicted by a grand jury in the Northern District of New York for immigration, tax and social security related felony offenses. Five IFCO executives are challenging the criminal charges against them. The trial was set for late April 2010. However, the defendants have requested a change of venue, which could delay the trial.
The five defendants challenging the charges against them are Haskell “Buddy” Ross of Lakeland, Fla. (Senior Vice President – Human Resources); Christopher Tiesman of Spring, Texas (Senior Vice President – Finance and Accounting); Charles Davidson of San Antonio, Texas (Vice President of New Market Development, formerly Director of New Market Development); Kenneth Gines Jr. of Spring, Texas (Controller – Pallet Services); and Wendy Mudra of Tampa, Fla. (Human Resources Manager).
The prosecution stems from the government’s investigation of illegal immigration and employment-related practices at IFCO’s pallet management service facilities. The investigation began following a tip to ICE in February 2005, that illegal alien laborers at the Albany IFCO plant were observed ripping up their W-2 forms.
On April 19, 2006, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, in concert with other federal and state authorities, conducted work site enforcement raids at over 40 IFCO pallet plants in 26 states. This action resulted in the detention of 1,181 illegal aliens working at those plants.
The United States Attorney’s Office has previously prosecuted several IFCO managers for criminal offenses associated with the employment of illegal alien workers at IFCO pallet plants. Including the pleas announced today, eleven IFCO managers have entered guilty pleas related to hiring illegals and other violation of U.S. immigration, tax and workplace law.
In December 2008, the United States government reached a record corporate settlement with IFCO, pursuant to which the company agreed to pay $20.7 million dollars in civil forfeitures and penalties over four years. The settlement amount included $2.6 million dollars in back pay and penalties relating to IFCO’s overtime violations with respect to 1,700 of its pallet workers. IFCO also agreed to pay $18.1 million in civil forfeitures that will be available to support future law enforcement activities. IFCO has been fully compliant with the settlement agreement to date.
IFCO’s agreement in essence shielded the company from prosecution and has allowed it to stay in business as long as the company agrees to follow U.S. laws as well as the letter of the agreement. Depending on what comes out at trial, IFCO or its senior executives could still face legal challenges. If new information emerges that indicate illegal actions were conducted outside the scope of the corporate settlement, the Department of Justice could always re-open its investigation into the company as a whole or senior management.
The IFCO raids alarmed the pallet industry back in 2006 because one of its largest companies became the poster child for aggressive enforcement of U.S. immigration and labor laws. Government analysis of IFCO’s payroll information suggests that as many as 6,000 illegal aliens worked at IFCO pallet plants from 2003 to April 2006. Since then, IFCO has worked to become compliant, according to the Department of Justice in its recent statement. Other pallet companies have worked to verify the legal work status of their employees as well.
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