Roswell Employer Pleads Not Guilty To Employing Illegals
By Miguel Martinez
LAS CRUCES – A U.S. military contractor charged with knowingly employing illegal aliens to paint U.S. military aircraft pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of a felony indictment on Wednesday.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents led a 5-year investigation into whether Dean Baldwin Painting, Inc.executive vice president Carl Dean Baldwin knowingly hired, harbored,and transportedundocumented workers for painting military aircraft.
Baldwinfacesseveral charges involving illegal documentation, transport, aiding andabetting illegal aliens for work purposes.A grand jury in Albuquerque, indicted Baldwin who is the executivepresident for the Roswell-basedpainting company,on November 6.
Officials allege that Baldwin allowed two of his employees uselegitimate Social Security numbers and fake drivers’ licenses to complete work authorization forms. He also allegedly paid an undocumented worker to travel to paint aircraft.
Special Agent Roberto G. Medina, who is in charge of ICE Office of Investigations in El Paso, Texas said, “This case serves to put businesses on notice that ICE aggressively targets and pursues criminal charges against employers who knowingly employ illegal aliens.”
ICE Agents executed a warrant in August of 2006 to search a hangar in Roswell used for painting large planes. The agents arrested 13 illegal aliens, some of whom were in process of painting. Two additional undocumented workers were later arrested at a different location.
Three of those 15 workers were prosecuted and convicted of using fraudulent information and documents for obtaining work, which is a felony. They were deported after serving their sentences. Five remain in the U.S. as material witnesses and the rest have been deported to their countries of origin which include Mexico and Guatemala.
If Baldwin is convicted, he faces 10 years in prison for nine counts and 5 years for one and a $250,000 fine for each. He was released on his own recognizancea and no trial date has been set.
