Trish Mehaffey, CR Gazette –
CEDAR RAPIDS – A roofing contractor from Texas working in Cedar Rapids and harboring illegal workers was sentenced this week to six months in federal prison.
Macedonio Suarez, 43, of McKinney, Texas, pleaded guilty in February to two counts of transporting, harboring and aiding and abetting the transporting and harboring of illegal immigrants. He was sentenced Tuesday, July 17, 2012, in U.S. District Court to six months in prison and fined $5,000.
Suarez, who worked under his name and under the name Suarez Roofing, admitted he performed roofing labor in Cedar Rapids and the surrounding area in conjunction with a larger roofing contractor in the area between June 2004 and September 2011. Suarez would travel to Cedar Rapids from Texas and work from about April through November each year.
According to a criminal complaint, Suarez recruited workers from Texas to work in Iowa. Suarez admitted he harbored between six and 24 undocumented workers. He didn’t verify the identity of the workers or that the workers were lawfully present or authorized to work in the United States, as required.
Suarez was paid more than $700,000 for roofing labor completed in 2009 and 2010.
Investigators discovered his illegal workers May 6, 2011, when five of them were found fishing without a license in Ellis Park.
Suarez was released on a previous bond and is to surrender to the marshals in Fort Worth, Texas, on Aug. 16, 2012.
Illegals are a problem, cheaper labor drives out those whom are not illegal, don’t pay taxes and medical is just a whole other ball game.
They could have just went to the closest McDonalds and made some more arrest while they having lunch.
Good. I’m glad to hear that someone got caught with illegal workers. I wish there were more enforcement. I hate businesses that hire illegals or pay workers under the table. I keep waiting for one of them to get injured severely and then see what happens to the employer.