United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

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

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

13 FORMER EMPLOYEES AT SWIFT & COMPANY MEAT
PROCESSING PLANT IN CACTUS, TEXAS SENTENCED

AMARILLO, Texas - Thirteen former employees of the Swift & Company Meat Processing Plant in Cactus, Texas, who pled guilty to charges stemming from the December 12, 2006, immigration enforcement action at the plant, were sentenced yesterday in federal court, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas.

Manuel Aguilar-Vargon and Jose Jauria-Buch were each sentenced to 6 months in prison. Juan De La Cruz-Tino, Antonio Garcia-Deleon, Cruz Chica-Paulo, Santos Morales-Perez, Sebastian Xiquin-Quino, Flaviano Son-Lux, Domingo Cipyian-Tomas, and Martin Castro-Quixan were each sentenced to 8 months in prison. Pedro Alonso-Perez was sentenced to 9 months in prison. Pedro Tomas-Gutierrez was sentenced to 1 year and 1 day. Each defendant pled guilty to using fraudulently obtained identity documents, including a Social Security card, to make it appear as though they were United States citizens legally authorized to live and work in the United States to gain employment at Swift.

Marcelino Ralios-Pablo was sentenced to 8 months in prison. He pled guilty to falsely representing a Social Security number as belonging to him in order to obtain employment at Swift.

All but four of the 53 defendants who pled guilty have been sentenced. The remaining four are scheduled to be sentenced later this month.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the excellent cooperative work of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Border Patrol; the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General; and the Texas Department of Public Safety. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise Williams of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lubbock, Texas.

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