The Department of Justice fined an Ohio meat-packing company last week almost $4 million after a hiring manager stole the identities of American citizens and gave them to illegal immigrants who were not eligible to work in America.
Fresh Mark, Inc., entered into a Non-prosecution Agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio after Yelwin Omar Munoz-Solis’ “involvement in an identity theft scheme and subsequent obstruction of justice.”
“According to court documents, a hiring manager at Fresh Mark’s Salem facility, Yelwin Omar Munoz-Solis, 43, of Salem, Ohio, conspired with others to steal identities of U.S. Citizens and give them to job applicants at Fresh Mark’s meat processing plants. He then certified I-9 documents, which are used to verify identity and employment eligibility in the United States,” the press release says.
“Munoz-Solis was charged and subsequently plead guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft, aggravated identity theft, and making false statements on immigration forms submitted to HSI,” the press release added.
“Stealing identities to transfer to others not eligible to work is not an acceptable business practice,” said U.S. Attorney Rebecca Lutzko for the Northern District of Ohio. “Employers must ensure that their hiring practices comply with all federal laws, and businesses caught providing false statements to the government will be held to account.”
This is not the first time this meat packing company has gotten in trouble for doing this.
According to the press release, between 2013 and 2018, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents arrested multiple Fresh Mark employees who used stolen identities to gain employment with the company.
In 2018, federal authorities arrested 146 illegal immigrants who worked for Fresh Mark in Salem, Canton, and Massillon—thirty of these individuals were charged with various immigration violations in federal court.
Fresh Mark will pay a $3,719,997 penalty and will abide by compliance reporting requirements for a period of two years.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at zschmidt1717@gmail.com. Follow Zachery on Twitter @zacheryschmidt2.
