Story Published:
Jan 16, 2008 at 9:11 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Jan 16, 2008 at 9:11 PM CDT
SPRINGFIELD -- A federal jury
convicted a woman from Monett on Tuesday for harboring an illegal immigrant and
inducing an illegal immigrant to enter or live in the United States.
Dora Ruiz, 33, helped hire employees at George's Processing plant in
Butterfield.
A federal grand jury indicted Ruiz in
October. The two-day trial started Monday.
Law officers raided George's last
spring and arrested more than 100 undocumented immigrants who were working
there.
----
Edited news release from U.S. Attorney
John Wood's office:
Dora Ruiz,
33, of Monett, was found guilty on Tuesday of two counts contained in an federal
indictment on Oct. 16, 2007. In a separate but related case, Sinthia Valadez-Ramirez,
23, address unknown, pleaded guilty on Jan. 8 for aiding and abetting others to
commit aggravated identity theft. Both Ruiz and Valadez-Ramirez formerly
worked in the human resources department at George’s Processing and were
involved in the hiring process at the plant.
Ruiz was found guilty of
aiding and abetting others to harbor an illegal alien at George’s Processing,
and of aiding and abetting others to induce an illegal immigrant to enter or
reside in the United States, between Dec. 14, 2005, and May 22, 2007.
Evidence presented during the trial
demonstrated that Ruiz assisted George’s employees by completing their
Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 forms and translating from English to
Spanish. Ruiz knew that many employees were illegal immigrants who used
fraudulently obtained Social Security numbers and identity documents in order to
be hired at the plant.
This verdict marks the first trial
conviction in an active and ongoing investigation arising from a work site
enforcement conducted at George’s Processing on Tuesday, May 22, 2007.
Special agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, executing a
federal search warrant, arrested 136 illegal aliens from Mexico and Guatemala on
administrative immigration charges. Agents from the U.S. Marshals
Service assisted with the arrests. As a result of that enforcement action,
28 of those employees were also charged criminally with immigration and identity
theft violations.
By pleading guilty, Valadez-Ramirez
admitted that, between July 4, 2006, and May 22, 2007, she aided and abetted
others to use another person’s identity – including a Missouri
non-driver’s license number and a Social Security card – so that another
person could represent herself to be a citizen of the United States.
Following the presentation of
evidence, the jury in U.S. District Court in Springfield deliberated about an
hour before returning the guilty verdicts to U.S. District Judge Richard Dorr,
ending a trial that began Monday..
Under federal statutes, Ruiz could
be subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole.
A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence
investigation by the United States Probation Office.
----
PAST REPORTS
