Illegal hires: Court case shows feds following up on promise to penalize employers
November 24, 2009 by Jim GiulianoPosted in: Employment law, Hiring, Immigration, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views
At the beginning of the year, the White House and the Department of Homeland Security vowed to crack down on employers who hired illegals. In one of the first case following the vow, the feds made good on the threat: 10 years in prison for an owner who flouted the law.
Richard Rosenbaum pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to defraud the U.S. and harboring illegal aliens, who were hired at his maintenance-services company.
A federal investigation in Michigan had revealed that Rosenbaum’s company had hired hundreds of illegal aliens and paid them in cash – thereby avoiding paying the government employment taxes, Social Security and Medicare. According to the feds, the company had cheated the IRS out of more than $16 million.
Rosenbaum appealed the stiff sentence, citing his lack of a prior criminal record and his cooperation in the government’s investigation.
But the judge was unmoved. Rosenbaum’s cooperation wasn’t all that substantial, the court said, and it didn’t begin until a co-defendant turned informant. The sentence was within federal guidelines, the judge added.
Cite: U.S. v. Rosenbaum
Tags: illegal aliens, U.S. v. Rosenbaum
HRMorning.com delivers the latest HR news once a week to the inboxes of over 200,000 HR professionals.
Click here to sign up and start your FREE subscription to HRMorning!
follow us on Twitter
join our group on Facebook
