A Federal Grand Jury in the Southern District of Mississippi has indicted four managers or supervisors or human resource officers stemming from the raid last August that saw 680 illegal alien employees detained. The indictments were based on information collected through criminal and administrative search warrants that were executed during the highly publicized raid of Mississippi poultry companies.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi, conducted raids at seven sites across central Mississippi. It was the largest single-state worksite enforcement operation in U.S.  history, resulting in the detention of 680 illegal aliens and the prosecution of 119 illegal aliens for stealing the identities of American citizens, falsifying immigration documents, fraudulently claiming to be United States citizens, and illegal re-entering the country after they were deported, among other federal crimes.

The four unsealed indictments announced late this week marks the first criminal actions against poultry company management personnel and is limited to two companies, A&B Inc. and Pearl River Foods, LLC.

“This office has a successful history of prosecuting employers for violating our immigration laws, and today marks another step in ensuring that justice is fairly and impartially done, no matter the law-breaker. I want to thank our partners at ICE Homeland Security Investigations and our office’s federal prosecutors for doggedly pursuing these criminal violations.  The indictments unsealed today to mark the beginning, not the end, of our investigations and prosecutions.  Rest assured that we will continue to pursue criminal wrongdoers and enforce our criminal laws wherever the evidence may take us,” said U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst.

“The results of this ongoing criminal investigation illustrate the importance of strong interior enforcement. The arrests made last year pursuant to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s execution of more than a dozen search warrants have thus far yielded 126 indictments, 117 criminal arrests, and 73 convictions. In total, more than 403 individuals falsified social security information in order to gain illegal employment in the United States,” said acting ICE deputy director and senior official performing the duties of the director Matthew T. Albence. “Companies who intentionally or knowingly base their business model on an illegal workforce deprive law-abiding citizens and lawful immigrants of employment opportunities, which are especially critical as our economy looks to recover from the challenges faced by the COVID-19 pandemic. ICE Homeland Security Investigations will continue its commitment to uphold the laws Congress has passed. These laws protect jobs for the legal workforce, reduce incentives for illegal migration, and eliminate inequitable financial advantages for businesses employing illegal immigrants.”

The indictments include;

Salvador Delgado-Nieves, 57, of Pelahatchie, Mississippi, was charged with three counts of harboring illegal aliens, three counts of assisting illegal aliens in falsely representing themselves to be United States citizens, three counts of assisting illegal aliens in obtaining false Social Security cards, and one count of making a false statement to law enforcement officials when he denied having hired illegal aliens at A&B, Inc. in Pelahatchie.

Delgado-Nieves faces up to 74 years in federal prison and $2.5 million in fines for these criminal violations, as Counts 1-6 carry a maximum of ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each violation, Counts 7-9 carry a maximum of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count, and Count 10 carries a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

  Iris Villalon, 44, of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, was indicted on one count of harboring an illegal alien, and one count of making false statements when she denied that she had hired illegal aliens for employment with A&B, Inc., in Pelahatchie, and one count of causing false employer quarterly wage reports to be filed when she knew the Social Security number represented in such reports was not assigned by the Social Security Administration to that specific illegal alien employee listed therein.

Villalon faces up to 20 years in prison and $750,000 in fines for these criminal violations, as Count 1 carries a maximum of ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and Counts 2-3 carries a maximum of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.

Carolyn Johnson, 50, of Kosciuskio, Mississippi, was a Human Resource Manager and Aubrey “Bart” Willis, 39, of Flowery Branch, Georgia, was the Manager at Pearl River Foods LLC in Carthage, Mississippi.  Johnson was indicted on six felony counts of harboring an illegal alien as well as one count of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft.  Willis was indicted on five counts of harboring an illegal alien.

The indictment charges both defendants with harboring illegal aliens following the execution of federal warrants at the Pearl River Foods facility on August 7, 2019.  Johnson was also indicted for fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with a grant from the State of Mississippi for reimbursement for on the job training for employees of Pearl River Foods.  As set forth in the indictment, Johnson submitted claims for reimbursement for on the job training that never occurred.

If convicted, Johnson faces a maximum of up to 84 years in prison and $2.25 million in fines, with Counts 1-6 carrying a maximum of ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each violation, Count 7 carrying a maximum of twenty years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each violation, and Counts 8-9 carrying a mandatory minimum of 2 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each violation.

If convicted, Willis faces a maximum of up to 50 years and $1.25 million in fines, Counts 1-5 carrying a maximum of ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each violation.

Following the unsealing of the indictments, the four defenants made their initial court appearances.

These cases were investigated by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations and are being prosecuted by the Assistant United States,  Lynn Murray.

An indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt.  Every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.