Oldham County landscape owner pleads guilty to employing
illegal aliens
Owner paid illegal aliens less than legal workers; forfeits $147,000
October 3, 2007
http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/071003louisville.htm
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The owner of an Oldham County landscaping company
pleaded guilty here Monday to employing illegal aliens at his business. This
plea resulted from a criminal worksite enforcement investigation conducted
by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Dean A. Hedges, 49, pleaded guilty Oct. 1 in U.S. District Court in the
Western District of Kentucky before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dave Whalin to
charges he knowingly employed illegal aliens at his landscaping company in
Crestwood, Ky.
Information filed in federal court Monday charges Hedges and his
companies - Hedges Landscape Specialists Inc., Exterior Designs Inc., and
Performance Irrigation LLC, all located at 7606 Highway 329 in Crestwood -
with employing illegal aliens. The charges claim that between Sept. 25,
2006, and Sept. 24, 2007, Hedges Landscape Specialists knowingly employed at
least 12 illegal aliens and that Dean Hedges engaged in a pattern or
practice of knowingly hiring illegal aliens.
A former employee informed ICE agents that it was common knowledge that
Dean Hedges employed illegal aliens to work for Exterior Designs Inc. and
Performance Irrigation, and that those illegal aliens were considered a
subclass of employees. For example, the illegal alien employees were paid a
flat rate regardless of the number of hours worked during the week.
According to court documents, ICE agents were contacted by former
employees of the business and alerted that illegal aliens were being
employed by Hedges. One employee told ICE agents that during the time he/she
worked for Hedges, Hedges knowingly and openly employed illegal aliens to
work for his company. The former employee estimated that Hedges seasonally
employed between 10 to 15 illegal aliens during the spring months through
late June and early July, and that the business picked up again during the
fall planting season. The former employee said that, at the direction of
Hedges, he/she was ordered to pay the illegal aliens on about 20 to 25
occasions in cash "under the table" for work they performed as employees of
Hedges Landscape Specialists.
The same former employee stated that during his/her employment with Dean
Hedges, he/she had several discussions with Hedges about completing
Employment Eligibility I-9 Forms on the company's employees. Hedges
indicated he was not worried and "would just pay a fine" if he were ever
caught by authorities. The former employee indicated that some I-9 forms
were completed for documented workers, but not for illegal alien employees.
As part of the investigation, ICE agents executed a federal search
warrant Sept. 24 at Hedges Landscape Specialists. During the execution of
the search warrant, ICE agents arrested 12 illegal alien workers from Mexico
who have all been placed in deportation proceedings.
The maximum potential penalties for the corporation is a $250,000 fine,
and the maximum potential penalties for Hedges are a $24,000 fine and six
months imprisonment or up to five years probation. Hedges has also agreed to
forfeit $147,000 seized from his corporate bank accounts.
"ICE is aggressively pursuing employers who egregiously violate the law,"
said Elissa A. Brown, special agent-in-charge of the ICE Office of
Investigations in Chicago. "All employers in all industries and locations
must comply with our nation's laws. ICE, and our law enforcement partners,
will continue to enforce immigration laws from all angles, including:
criminal charges, asset seizures, administrative arrests and deportations."
Brown heads a six-state area, which includes: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky,
Kansas, Missouri and Wisconsin.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Madison T. Sewell, Western District of Kentucky,
prosecuted this case.
-- ICE --
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