Agriprocessors supervisor pleads guilty

In May, the Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa was raided by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Now, from this:

A former supervisor at Agriprocessors, the Postville meatpacking plant that was the location of the nation’s largest single-site immigration raid, accepted a deal and pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday afternoon.

Juan Carlos Guerrero-Espinoza, 35, has been convicted of one count of conspiracy to hire illegal aliens and one count of aiding and abetting the hiring of illegal aliens. A date for sentencing has not yet been set.

Court documents filed Aug. 19 indicate that Guerrero-Espinoza "conspired with others, and aided and abetted his employer, in hiring more than 10 individuals" whom he knew to be undocumented and unable to legally work in the U.S. Guerrero-Espinoza was convicted, in part, due to a conversation he had with employees under his supervision on May 7. At that time Guerrero-Espinoza allegedly told workers he knew to be illegal immigrants that they were going to be terminated and then immediately rehired by Agriprocessors.

Two other supervisors haven't been charged yet, and they want their trials moved (link). They also want a different judge, saying:

"this Court's involvement in preparing for the proceedings, coupled with the swift and carefully choreographed nature of the guilty plea hearings, created the appearance that the Court was acting closely in concert with the government."

The ACLU previously tried to make a big deal out of those proceedings having a script. Whether these three or others will be used to somehow implicate higher-ups isn't known.

Previously:
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) calls DHS agents "Gestapo agents" (Gebe Martinez/Politico)
Luis Gutierrez demagogues Agriprocessors raid, accuses DOJ of lying (Joe Baca, Albio Sires, Jens Manuel Krogstad)
1000 protest in Postville in support of immigration-related abuses; a Rubashkin blames enemies
New York Times supports illegal activity, identity theft
Federal, state investigations of Agriprocessors (maybe the left will stop playing games)
Betsy Rubiner/Time offers pro-illegal immigration propaganda (Agriprocessors, Iowa)

Immigration2008a · Thu, 08/21/2008 - 09:15 · · Importance: 9