Two men with county links charged with immigration fraud

Published 11:53 pm Friday, September 3, 2010

SEATTLE — Two men with Snohomish County ties were arrested Thursday on charges of bringing illegal immigrants to Washington to do drywall work, federal prosecutors said.

A 37-year-old man is accused of arranging for workers from his hometown in Mexico to work for Ketchikan Drywall Services Inc. of Woodinville, the U.S. Attorneys Office said in a news release. The man, whom authorities said came to the U.S. illegally a decade ago, obtained fake documents for them and let them stay at his Edmonds home.

The first suspect recruited another man charged in the case, authorities said. The second man, a 39-year-old living in Bothell, collected rent from illegal immigrants staying in homes he owned in Everett and Bothell. Prosecutors said he paid the men for drywall work.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigated the case using confidential informants.

The men were charged with using and possessing false immigration documents, misusing Social Security numbers and making false statements to authorities, prosecutors said. The charges carry a possible 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.