U.S. Attorney: Illegal Immigrants Got False I.D.s

HARRISONBURG — Federal immigration officials raided the Cargill Meat Solutions plant in Dayton this morning and arrested three employees as part of an alleged multi-state conspiracy to obtain and sell identification cards to illegal immigrants, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced today.

The operation led to a federal grand jury indictment of eight people, including former Cargill employee Edwin Roberto Mendez, who prosecutors say led the three current Cargill employees to Ohio to obtain identification fraudulently.

The other people indicted are from Ohio and Puerto Rico.

Mendez, originally from El Salvador, is a legal permanent resident of the U.S., and has been living in the Harrisonburg area. He has been charged with conspiracy, aggravated identification fraud and identity fraud conspiracy. He faces up to 22 years in prison and a $500,000 fine if convicted on all charges.

The three arrested Cargill employees have not been identified or charged, but the government says it plans to deport them.

“Enforcing our nation’s immigration laws is one of our highest priorities,” U.S. Attorney John Brownlee said at a press conference this morning. “Had this conspiracy not been stopped, many more illegal aliens would have obtained identification papers making it extremely difficult for law enforcement to identify and deport them.”

Brownlee declined to comment on whether other Cargill employees’ citizenship status was checked during the raid. He added that Cargill, as a corporate entity, has not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing. He said the investigation is ongoing and more arrests could be made.

As of 2:30 this afternoon, Cargill has not commented on the arrests, although a representative from its corporate offices in Minnesota is expected to arrive in Virginia this afternoon to comment on behalf of the company.

The Daily News-Record will continue to update this breaking story as details become available. The DN-R will have a full report on the investigation and arrests in Wednesday’s print and online editions.