Gregory A. White, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, today announced that on November 1, 2007, United States District Judge Patricia A. Gaughan sentenced two defendants in connection with their involvement in HV Connect, a temporary employment agency that employed illegal aliens at several jobsites across northern Ohio.

Trung Q. “Tom” Nguyen, 46, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the operator of HV Connect, was sentenced to 30 months incarceration, to be followed by two years of supervised release. Trung Nguyen was also ordered to forfeit, to the United States, his personal residence in Philadelphia and two Lexus vehicles purchased with proceeds of the employment scheme. Trung Nguyen had pleaded guilty to: conspiracy to transport and harbor aliens; conspiracy to commit money laundering; conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud; harboring aliens; employing ten or more aliens; and money laundering.

Trung Nguyen’s brother, An Quoc “Andrew” Nguyen, 31, also of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to two years probation with six months home confinement and 80 hours of community service. An Quoc Nguyen had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport and harbor aliens; harboring aliens; and employing ten or more aliens.

Last week, Judge Gaughan sentenced three other defendants following guilty pleas to various offenses for their roles in the HV Connect scheme as well. Mshenga Nasseb, 30, of Canton, Ohio, was sentenced to four months incarceration, four months home confinement, and two years supervised release. Ridha Boughalmi, 30, formerly of New Philadelphia, Ohio, was sentenced to two years probation with four months home confinement. Abdulrahman Mtumwa, 46, of Columbus, Ohio, was sentenced to two years probation. Five other defendants have pleaded guilty and await sentencing in this case. Two additional defendants have been charged but are currently fugitives.

HV Connect operated as a temporary employment agency in 2000-2002, primarily based in Canton, Ohio, but supplied alien workers to various businesses in several Ohio counties. HV Connect assured the businesses that the workers had proper work authorization, when in fact many of them were illegal aliens and had no permission to work in the United States. HV Connect paid the workers in cash and did not withhold taxes for Social Security or pay premiums to the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation for the alien workers. HV Connect housed the aliens in various rental units, transported them to and from work sites, and assisted them in obtaining false identification documents.

These charges arose from an investigation by agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Thomas J. Gruscinski and Arturo G. Hernandez.