Fresh Mark Incorporated, a Northeast Ohio-based company that supplies meat products to all 50 states and more than 20 countries, has entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The company paid a fine of nearly $4 million for a hiring manager’s involvement in an identity theft scheme and resulting obstruction of justice.
Between 2013 and 2018, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents illegally arrested several Fresh Mark employees in the United States who were using stolen identities to obtain employment with the company.
According to court documents, Yelwin Omar Munoz-Solis, 43, of Salem, Ohio, was a recruiting manager at the Fresh Mark location in Salem. He conspired with others to steal the identities of American citizens and give them to applicants for Fresh Mark meat processing plants. He then certified I-9 documents, which are used to verify identity and eligibility for employment in the United States.
Munoz-Solis was indicted and later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and making false statements on immigration forms submitted to HSI.
On June 19, 2018, Homeland Security special agents served search warrants at Fresh Mark processing facilities in Salem, Massillon and Canton, Ohio. Agents arrested 146 migrants working at the facility who were in the United States without legal status. About 30 of those people were later charged with immigration violations in federal court.
The raid on the three facilities involved nearly 100 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, Customs and Border Protection agents, and Border Patrol agents. It is the largest workplace enforcement operation under the first Trump administration. Shortly after the site search, the special agent in charge of HSI in Michigan and Ohio told reporters, “Illegal employment is one of the primary magnets that attract illegal aliens through our borders. Companies that knowingly harbor and hire illegal aliens as a business model must be held accountable for their actions.”
Authorities investigated after the job site raid and discovered an identity theft scheme that allowed hundreds of migrants unauthorized to work in the United States to obtain employment through the actions of the hiring manager.
“Stealing identities to transfer to others who are ineligible for employment is not an acceptable business practice,” said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Rebecca Lutzko. “Employers must ensure their hiring practices comply with all federal laws, and companies caught providing false statements to the government will be held accountable.”
Under the agreement, Fresh Mark Incorporated paid a $3,719,997 penalty and will meet reporting compliance requirements for two years, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In accordance with the Victims of Crime Continuing the Crime Victims Fund Act, 2021, the money will be directed to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
President Joe Biden significantly reduced the number of large-scale workplace raids shortly after taking office. However, President-elect Donald Trump has signaled a return to such coercive measures, as well as mass expulsion efforts, under future border czar Tom Homan.
During an October appearance on CBS 60 Minutes, Homan indicated that workplace enforcement efforts would be an important part of the new administration’s border security strategy.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as Division Chief of Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations of nine Border Patrol stations in the Del Rio Sector, Texas. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
Breitbart News
