Company Guilty of Harboring Illegal Aliens

According to court records, Special Agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) received information that AA STUCCO AND MASONRY, LLC. was harboring illegal aliens. As a result, surveillance was performed at the business location on several occasions. Agents observed vehicles and the drivers that parked at the business location and also noticed an auxiliary building on the property that appeared to house several of the workers. On April 25, 2014, Louisiana State Police assisted HSI in conducting a traffic stop on a 2013 black Dodge Ram pick-up truck that appeared to be parking at night at the location. A State Trooper asked the driver for identification as well as the registration for the vehicle. The driver only produced a Mexican passport, and a Mexican identification card. The vehicle was registered to the owner of AA STUCCO AND MASONRY, LLC. The passenger identified himself and both occupants indicated that they were working for AA STUCCO AND MASONRY, LLC., and that they were on their way to a jobsite in Laplace, Louisiana. Additionally, the driver indicated that he resided at 1688 St. Patrick’s Road in Ponchatoula, Louisiana (same address as the business location).

HSI agents continued surveillance and on May 6, 2014, proceeded to 1688 St. Patrick’s Road in Ponchatoula, and knocked on a door of the building. They observed that the door led to an apartment that was connected to the business. The apartment consisted of two bedrooms (each containing 2 beds), a bathroom, a fully-equipped kitchen, a sofa, and a kitchen table. Present at the apartment that day were the same individuals that were encountered during the April 25, 2014 traffic stop. The driver agreed to be interviewed and admitted that he was a citizen and national of Mexico and was in the United States illegally. He stated that AA STUCCO AND MASONRY, LLC. hired him in February 2014, and that he was not asked if he had permission to work in the United States. When asked for identification, he stated that he produced the Mexican identification documents and an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) that he received from the Department of Treasury. He did not have any documentation that allowed him to be present in the United States. He also stated that he resided at the apartment and that the owner of the company paid the apartment’s electricity and water bills, and did not charge him rent. He indicated that the owner of AA STUCCO AND MASONRY, LLC. also allowed him to use the 2013 black Dodge Ram pickup truck for work purposes.

The passenger also agreed to be interviewed and stated that he was also a citizen and national of Mexico who was also in the United States illegally. He stated that he had been working for AA STUCCO AND MASONRY, LLC. for approximately six (6) months. About a month after being hired, the owner of AA STUCCO AND MASONRY, LLC. asked him for his Social Security number and he explained that he told the owner that he did not have one, thus indicating that he was in the United States illegally. The passenger also admitted that he resided at the same apartment as the driver and that the owner paid the apartment’s electricity and water bills, and did not charge him rent. He also said that the owner allowed him to utilize his 2013 black Dodge Ram pickup for work purposes.

On May 6, 2014 HSI agents served an I-9 “Notice of Inspection” and an immigration enforcement subpoena upon AA STUCCO AND MASONRY, LLC. A Form I-9 Inspection is an administrative inspection process used to verify employment eligibility for a business’s employees.  By law, employers are required to maintain Forms I-9 for all current employees, and the Form I-9 Inspection is a review of the relevant forms.  AA STUCCO AND MASONRY, LLC. did not require that the two (2) aliens complete the Department of Homeland Security Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 and did not require those aliens to present identification documents as proof of their lawful presence in the United States.

On May 9, 2014, the owner met with the agents and said that he constructed the building at 1688 St. Patrick’s Road as a warehouse to store his equipment.  The owner later admitted that there is an apartment located within the business that was there to provide housing, thus acknowledging paying for lodging for his workers. He also admitted that he allowed the illegal aliens to drive the 2013 black Dodge Ram pickup for work purposes. The owner of AA STUCCO AND MASONRY, LLC. also admitted that the two (2) illegal aliens were hired for work purposes, and that he knew or recklessly disregarded the fact that the employees living in the apartment were illegal aliens, not lawfully in the United States.

United States District Court Judge Susie Morgan set sentencing for September 17, 2019 at 2pm.

U.S. Attorney Strasser praised the work of Homeland Security Investigations and the Louisiana State Police in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Jon Maestri is in charge of the prosecution.