Utahn admits harboring illegal aliens

A Utah businessman has admitted to concealing from federal officials information about two dozen undocumented immigrants working at his Provo company.

Owner Ray Crosby entered a guilty plea on behalf of Champion Safe Inc. this past week to a single count of harboring illegal aliens. In return, federal prosecutors have agreed to recommend a sentence of no less than three years probation and an $80,000 fine.

Federal immigration officials arrested 107 Champion Safe employees during a raid of the business in February 2003. Agents executed the raid after serving the company with an Immigration and Naturalization Service subpoena seeking the employment records of suspected undocumented immigrants.

The 24 individuals named in the criminal charge are those whose records were seized during the raid but not previously disclosed to the INS in response to the subpoena, Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Pead said.

The charge against Champion Safe is among the first of its kind in Utah. It is more customary to see businesses and business owners charged with a pattern of violating immigration laws in hiring practices, Pead said.

However, he said, the harboring charge "has a little more teeth" and is likely to be used in future cases where employers knowingly employ illegal workers and then take steps to prevent their discovery by immigration officials.

"The U.S. attorney believes that employer prosecution is part of an overall immigration strategy," Pead said. "I hope this prosecution does send a message that (employers who engage in illegal hiring practices) have our attention."

According to court documents, Champion Safe followed a practice of hiring employees without completing the necessary eligibility forms and failed to take action after being notified of a problem with the Social Security numbers of 15 employees some three years prior to the raid. Also, a month before the raid, Crosby admitted to immigration officials he suspected that as many as half of his approximately 150 employees were undocumented immigrants.

Crosby declined to comment following court Wednesday, but his attorney, Anneli Smith, said Champion Safe has taken steps to prevent further violations.

"Absolutely, they intend to fully comply with the law," Smith said.

As part of its plea agreement, Champion Safe has agreed to allow officials with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (formerly INS) to inspect its employment records without prior notice at any point during its probationary term.

A formal sentence in the case will be imposed Jan. 18 by U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell.

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E-mail: awelling@desnews.com