Former union rep sentenced on harboring aliens charge
Posted: Sunday, August 10, 2008
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A former union representative convicted of harboring illegal immigrants working at a Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Marshalltown has been sentenced to a year and one day in prison.
Braulio Pereyra-Gabino, 59, of Marshalltown, was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and $100 to the Crime Victim Fund. He was sentenced on Friday.
In May, Pereyra-Gabino was convicted by a federal jury of harboring illegal aliens. He had faced up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on that charge. He was aquitted of other charges including false representation of a Social Security number and aggravated identity theft.
According to court records, Pereyra-Gabino was working as vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 1149 when he was arrested by federal immigration officials in July 2007. A union official said Friday that Pereyra-Gabino no longer served as a union representative.
Prosecutors contended during the trial that Pereyra-Gabino told undocumented workers how to escape detection and protect their fake identities used to get jobs at the Marshalltown plant.
A telephone message seeking comment from Pereyra-Gabino's attorney Keith Rigg wasn't immediately returned.
Federal officials have said the charges resulted, in part, because of union orientation speeches that Pereyra-Gabino gave to all new Swift employees of Hispanic descent. They said he told illegal workers to do things such as hide their identification in their boots and not tell anyone else which workers did or did not have legal authorization to work in the U.S.
During his trial, a prosecution witness testified that Pereyra-Gabino knew she was an illegal immigrant but told her how to obtain documents to work at the Swift plant. She taped the conversation with him as she cooperated with the federal investigation.
Rigg argued during the trial that Pereyra-Gabino may have said things during those orientation speeches that the jury may not like, but that those words were protected by his right to free speech and that no crime occurred.
Pereyra-Gabino was also accused of filling out a job application at Swift in December 2005 for his nephew, and providing the company with a Social Security number issued to another man, Mohammed Carrasquillo. Prosecutors called Carrasquillo, who testified that he never filed an application at Swift or worked there.
A handwriting expert testified that the application was likely filled out by Pereyra-Gabino.
Braulio Pereyra-Gabino, 59, of Marshalltown, was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and $100 to the Crime Victim Fund. He was sentenced on Friday.
In May, Pereyra-Gabino was convicted by a federal jury of harboring illegal aliens. He had faced up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on that charge. He was aquitted of other charges including false representation of a Social Security number and aggravated identity theft.
According to court records, Pereyra-Gabino was working as vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 1149 when he was arrested by federal immigration officials in July 2007. A union official said Friday that Pereyra-Gabino no longer served as a union representative.
Prosecutors contended during the trial that Pereyra-Gabino told undocumented workers how to escape detection and protect their fake identities used to get jobs at the Marshalltown plant.
A telephone message seeking comment from Pereyra-Gabino's attorney Keith Rigg wasn't immediately returned.
Federal officials have said the charges resulted, in part, because of union orientation speeches that Pereyra-Gabino gave to all new Swift employees of Hispanic descent. They said he told illegal workers to do things such as hide their identification in their boots and not tell anyone else which workers did or did not have legal authorization to work in the U.S.
During his trial, a prosecution witness testified that Pereyra-Gabino knew she was an illegal immigrant but told her how to obtain documents to work at the Swift plant. She taped the conversation with him as she cooperated with the federal investigation.
Rigg argued during the trial that Pereyra-Gabino may have said things during those orientation speeches that the jury may not like, but that those words were protected by his right to free speech and that no crime occurred.
Pereyra-Gabino was also accused of filling out a job application at Swift in December 2005 for his nephew, and providing the company with a Social Security number issued to another man, Mohammed Carrasquillo. Prosecutors called Carrasquillo, who testified that he never filed an application at Swift or worked there.
A handwriting expert testified that the application was likely filled out by Pereyra-Gabino.
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