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Former Agriprocessors supervisor pleads guiltyCEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP)--A supervisor at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville pleaded guilty Aug. 20 to conspiring to hire illegal immigrants and aiding and abetting their hiring. Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza, 35, struck a plea deal with federal prosecutors in court Aug. 20. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. Federal magistrate Jon S. Scoles told Guerrero-Espinoza he will probably serve four to five years in prison. Part of the plea deal recommends a judge add two years to his sentence. A date for sentencing was not immediately scheduled. Scoles said Guerrero-Espinoza, a legal resident of the United States, could be deported after his sentence. Guerrero-Espinoza, shackled at the wrists, ankles and waist, nodded his head while Scoles read the charges against him. In May, the Agriprocessors plant in Postville was the site of the largest single-site immigration raid in U.S. history. After the raid, 389 illegal immigrants were detained. Guerrero-Espinoza and fellow Agriprocessors supervisor Martin De La Rosa-Loera, 43, were arrested on July 3 and charged with encouraging illegal immigrants to reside in the U.S. and aiding and abetting the possession and use of fraudulent identification. Guerrero-Espinoza also faced a charge of aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft. Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Deegan said in court on Aug. 20 that the additional two years recommended for Guerrero-Espinoza's sentence stem from "dismissed and uncharged conduct," but declined to comment further after the hearing. The criminal complaint against Guerrero-Espinoza said a source who worked in the human resource department, who wasn't identified, told authorities that Guerrero-Espinoza would bring them resident alien cards for new job applicants who were to be hired in the beef kill department, one of the areas he supervised. Another source who worked at the plant told authorities that a week before the raid Guerrero-Espinoza instructed a group of workers to get new IDs and Social Security numbers in order to keep working at the company, the complaint said. That source also reported that Guerrero-Espinoza instructed the person to provide a photograph and $200, and that the source supplied him with the money and a fake name. In return, the source says Guerrero-Espinoza provided new application packets including fraudulent resident alien cards. Guerrero admitted in court to telling employees in May that they would be fired and rehired immediately, a key element of the conspiracy charge. The plea agreement is nonbinding, and sentencing judge Linda R. Reade does not have to abide by the two-year addition recommended by prosecutors. 9/1/08 Date: 8/27/08 Advertisement
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