United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

53 FORMER EMPLOYEES AT SWIFT & COMPANY
MEAT PROCESSING PLANT IN CACTUS, TEXAS
CHARGED IN FEDERAL INDICTMENTS

A federal grand jury in Amarillo, Texas, has charged 53 former employees of Swift & Company’s Cactus, Texas, meat processing plant with aggravated identity theft and other various related charges, announced United States Attorney Richard B. Roper.

“It is a serious federal crime to hijack and steal a citizen's good name and credit to illegally stay in the United States. These federal indictments demonstrate federal law enforcement's commitment to address rampant identity theft and immigration fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Roper.

“The ICE investigation conducted around the Swift & Company plants discovered a number of cases of suspected identity theft, which is supported by these indictments,” said John Chakwin, Special Agent in Charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Dallas. “This investigation has shown how individual U.S. citizens are tragically affected when aliens steal identities to obtain work. The aliens charged will have their day in court. If convicted, they’ll first serve their sentences before they’re removed to their countries of origin.”

All 53 defendants were originally charged in criminal complaints following their arrests in mid-December when federal law enforcement officials raided the Cactus plant as part of a nation-wide crackdown on illegal immigration and identity theft. Each of the 295 people arrested at the Cactus plant last month had assumed the identities of United States citizens. Because the system would not have been able to handle that number of prosecutions, additional criteria were used to determine which ones should be prosecuted. The aliens arrested, but not prosecuted, will be or have been processed for removal from the United States.

Each of the defendants is charged in a separate felony criminal indictment; most of the defendants are charged with multiple felony counts. All 53 defendants are charged with one count of false representation of a Social Security Number which carries a maximum statutory sentence of five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine per count, upon conviction. In addition, most of the defendants are also charged with aggravated identity theft which carries a mandatory statutory sentence of two years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine per count, upon conviction; one count of fraud in connection with an immigration document, which carries a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine per count, upon conviction; and one count of false representation of U.S. citizenship, which carries a three-year maximum statutory sentence and a $250,000 fine per count, upon conviction. Seven of the defendants are also charged with illegal re-entry after deportation, which carries a maximum statutory sentence of two years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine per count, upon conviction and two defendants are charged with aggravated felon re-entry after deportation, which carries a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, upon conviction. A listing of defendant names and charges is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/pressreleases.html

An indictment is an accusation by a federal grand jury and a defendant is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty. The investigation remains ongoing.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the excellent cooperative investigative work of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Border Patrol and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

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