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January 17, 2007
COMPANY AND THREE EMPLOYEES PLEAD GUILTY TO HIRING ILLEGAL ALIENS
(HOUSTON) Hillman Shrimp and Oyster Company, along with company president Clifford Hillman and two other employees, have pleaded guilty to charges associated with the company’s pattern of hiring aliens who were not authorized to work at the company, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.
Hillman Shrimp and Oyster Company of Dickinson, Texas pled guilty on Tuesday, January 16, 2007 before United States Magistrate Judge John R. Froeschner to conspiring to harbor illegal aliens and faces a maximum punishment of five years probation and a $500,000 fine at sentencing. United States District Judge Samuel B. Kent will sentence the company on April 13, 2007.
Company president Clifford Hillman, 56, of Dickinson, Steve Taylor, 33, and Wendy Taylor, 30, both of Santa Fe, Texas, have all pled guilty to a misdemeanor count of conspiracy to hire undocumented aliens. Each faces a maximum jail term of six months and a fine of up to $3,000 per unauthorized alien. A sentencing date is to be determined on a later date by the court.
Two other employees, Antonio Ramos Gonzalez, 44, of Kemah, Texas, and Derenda Campbell, 38, of Texas City, are also charged in the case. Gonzalez, who faces four felony charges related to the hiring scheme, remains a fugitive. A warrant remains outstanding for his arrest. Derenda Campbell is charged with a misdemeanor count of conspiring to hire undocumented aliens and is scheduled for trial on April 9, 2007.
Hillman Shrimp and Oyster Co. (HSO) is a major supplier of Gulf Coast oysters and shrimp with seafood processing facilities in Dickinson, Texas and Port Lavaca, Texas. HSO employed seasonal workers at both facilities. Clifford Hillman is the owner of HSO. Steve Taylor is the manager of the HSO Dickinson facility. Wendy Taylor is the Human Resources manager for HSO. Antonio Ramos Gonzalez was an HSO manager designated by the company as its agent to submit H2-B visa applications for alien temporary workers at the United States Consulate General in Monterrey Mexico. Derenda Campbell was employed by HSO as a clerk in human resources at the Dickinson, Texas facility.
The indictment charged the company and its employees with fraudulently obtaining non-agricultural H2-B visas. H2-B visas are non-immigrant visas designated for aliens who will be employed temporarily in a non-agricultural seasonal or intermittent position. By law, the H2-B worker is not to displace United States citizen workers capable of performing the service or labor and should not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of United States citizen workers.
The fraud occurred when prospective employees for HCO presented false driver’s licenses, identification cards, and social security numbers for use by HCO in filling out the Form I-9 to establish the individual’s identity. The Form I-9 is an employment verification document showing authorization to be employed in the United States.
Between October 2002, and June 2004, twelve aliens applied for employment and were hired by HCO using false or counterfeit documents to support the I-9 and ultimately the issuance of the H-2B visa. In some cases, HCO employees directed aliens to use a different social security number when notified by the Social Security Administration that the number did not match the name of the alien. The aliens were also directed to sign visa applications stating that the applicant never violated the immigration laws of the United States even though the alien and HCO personnel knew the alien had been hired illegally and was working at HCO in violation of immigration laws. When H-2B visas would expire for some aliens, HCO employees would direct the employee to establish a new identity using a new set of fraudulent documents in order to continue their employment at HCO.
On June 25, 2004 a search warrant was executed at the HSO plant in Dickinson, Texas. Twenty-one illegal aliens were found on the property. Documents seized from HCO included binders with lists of “bad” social security numbers and an October 2003 facsimile sent by HCO to an employee in the HSO Port Lavaca, Texas facility from the HSO Dickinson, Texas facility. The cover sheet advised “these people have bad Social Security #s”. Attached was a list of employees with employee number and Social Security numbers. The list bears the annotation “changed social = needs to change whole identity”.
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