LINCOLN, Neb. — A northeastern Nebraska agricultural firm and a neighborhood businessman every pleaded responsible in federal courtroom Wednesday to their roles in a conspiracy to harbor and make use of unlawful aliens.
This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Safety Investigations (HSI).
O’Neill Ventures, Inc., a tomato greenhouse and packing plant in O’Neill, Nebraska, entered a felony responsible plea in federal courtroom to conspiracy to harbor undocumented aliens. The plea was entered earlier than U.S. Justice of the Peace Choose Cheryl R. Zwart.
The conspiracy pertains to the sooner prosecution of Juan Pablo Sanchez-Delgado, an unlawful alien who acted as ringleader of the harboring scheme. Sanchez-Delgado was sentenced in 2019 to 120 months for his position within the conspiracy.
Native businessman John Charles Good, automobile salesman and proprietor of the La Herradura restaurant in O’Neill, additionally entered a responsible plea Wednesday for aiding and abetting Sanchez-Delgado in his conspiracy to unlawfully make use of and harbor unlawful aliens. Specifically, for his position in using Sanchez-Delgado’s spouse, Magdalena Castro-Benitez, on the restaurant he owned.
Castro-Benitez was beforehand deported to Mexico and returned illegally to the U.S. earlier than becoming a member of her husband’s conspiracy to harbor and make use of unlawful aliens. Good’s cost carries a attainable penalty of as much as six months of incarceration, a wonderful of $3,000 per alien, and a time period of supervised launch of as much as one 12 months that might comply with any time period of incarceration.
The plea settlement for O’Neill Ventures requires the corporate to pay a wonderful of $400,000 at sentencing. As well as, the company should enable HSI to conduct evaluations and inspections of their labor practices and hiring processes throughout a probationary time period as outlined within the settlement. The utmost wonderful approved by legislation for this offense is $500,000.
The company admitted by means of the plea settlement to being in a conspiracy to make use of and harbor undocumented aliens with Juan Pablo Sanchez-Delgado since not less than 2014.
On Aug. 8, 2018, brokers and ICE officers executed a search warrant at O’Neill Ventures, Inc., and located that undocumented alien employees comprised roughly 70% of the corporate’s work drive on that date.
At Sanchez-Delgado’s sentencing listening to Nov. 27, 2019, Chief U.S. District Choose John M. Gerrard described Sanchez-Delgado’s monetary exploitation of the employees on the tomato plant and different agricultural work websites as one of many “most egregious monetary crimes,” that the choose had ever seen and proceeded to condemn Sanchez-Delgado to the utmost imprisonment time approved by legislation, 120 months in federal jail. Restitution for these employees will likely be decided by Chief Choose Gerrard at a future date in time.
Sentencing for O’Neill Ventures, Inc. and Good is ready for Could 29, 2020 earlier than Chief Choose Gerrard.
