March 9, 2007

Company President, Ten Others, Charged in Worksite Probe of Arizona Drywall and Stucco Firm
Case is First Arizona Worksite Investigation Resulting in Criminal Charges

TUCSON, Ariz. The president of a Sierra Vista drywall and stucco company and 10 others face state and federal criminal charges today following a multi-agency probe into allegations the business knowingly hired illegal alien workers and conspired with counterfeit document vendors to obtain fraudulent work authorization cards for those employees.

Those charged in the case include the president and seven other employees of Sun Drywall and Stucco, Inc., as well as three individuals suspected of supplying counterfeit work authorization documents to the company's illegal alien workers. The charges against the Sun Drywall employees include conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens and conspiracy to knowingly hire illegal aliens. Those accused of supplying the counterfeit documents face state charges of identity theft.

The criminal charges, the first ever brought in a worksite enforcement investigation in Arizona, were announced today at a news conference in Tucson held by the agencies involved in the 16-month probe, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol, the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, and the Arizona Fraudulent Identity Task Force (AFIT). The Cochise County Sheriff''s Office and the Sierra Vista Police Department assisted federal agents with today's takedown.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona Daniel Knauss stated, "These serious charges should send a strong message that we expect all Arizona employers to start taking federal immigration laws seriously. I would like to extend our thanks to all the federal and state agencies that worked together to bring this case for prosecution".

Six of the suspects charged in the case were taken into custody today as federal and state authorities executed search warrants at several sites related to the investigation. Those locations included the company's headquarters in Sierra Vista, the home of a Sun Drywall foreman, and residences suspected of housing counterfeit document mills. During today's operation, authorities seized employee records, computers, and other evidence related to the case.

In addition, agents also served search warrants at eight Sun Drywall job sites in residential subdivisions located in the Sierra Vista area, where they arrested eight unauthorized workers on administrative immigration violations. The illegal workers, all of whom are from Mexico, are being processed and detained by ICE. This morning, ICE set up a hotline for persons trying to locate family members they think may have been apprehended. The hotline number is 520-266-3975. Bilingual assistance will be available on the hotline........

.........The investigation into Sun Drywall began in November 2005 after ICE received information that the company was engaging in illegal hiring practices. In December 2005, ICE agents reviewed the Form I-9s for 115 Sun Drywall employees and determined that 11 of them had used counterfeit Permanent Resident Alien cards known as “green cards” to obtain their jobs. Sun Drywall was provided with a list of the unauthorized workers. A subsequent review of wage reports subpoenaed from the Arizona Department of Economic Security showed that Sun Drywall continued to employ several of those workers, even after ICE advised the company about the employees' illegal status. The multi-agency investigation also revealed that several of Sun Drywall's unauthorized workers possessed counterfeit "green cards" bearing numbers belonging to other people.

A conviction for conspiracy to knowingly hire illegal aliens, a class B misdemeanor, carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison in addition to other possible fines. A conviction for conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens carries a maximum penalty of five years, a $250,000 fine, or both.