More charges filed in Iowa plant immigration raid
By HENRY C. JACKSON
Aug 19, 2008
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) A supervisor arrested after a large immigration raid at an Iowa meatpacking plant was hit with new charges Tuesday including conspiring to hire illegal immigrants.
Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza is expected to plead guilty to that charge, as well as aiding and abetting the hiring of illegal immigrants, according to a court filing by the U.S. attorney.
U.S. Attorney Matt M. Dummermuth wrote in a filing that Guerrero-Espinoza is expected to waive his indictment and enter into a plea agreement.
Guerrero-Espinoza was charged last month, along with Martin De La Rosa-Loera, with encouraging illegal immigrants to reside in the U.S. and aiding and abetting the possession and use of fraudulent identification. Guerrero-Espinoza also was charged with aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft.
The U.S. attorney's office would not comment Tuesday on the status of those charges. Messages left with lawyers for Guerrero-Espinoza and De La Rosa-Loera were not immediately returned.
Guerrero-Espinoza, 35, and De La Rosa-Loera, 43, were supervisors at Agriprocessors, the nation's largest kosher meatpacking plant, when a May 12 immigration raid resulted in the arrest of 389 workers.
According to the latest court filings, Guerrero-Espinoza told employees on May 7, 2008, that they would be fired and immediately rehired, and that he knew they were unauthorized to work in the United States.
Court documents allege that, over a year, he conspired to hire 10 more people in the country illegally.
A spokesman for Agriprocessors did not immediately return a telephone call requesting comment.
Associated Press writer Amy Lorentzen in Des Moines contributed to this report.
