The owners of Aquila Farms, LLC, were sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay fines totaling $234,000 for hiring illegal aliens and aiding and abetting each other to do so. The convictions were the result of an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The company encouraged or induced an alien to come to, enter or reside in the United States for commercial advantage or private financial gain knowing it was in violation of the law. Aquila Farms was sentenced to probation for five years, ordered to pay a fine of $500,000 and required to make payments totaling $2,000,000 in lieu of forfeiture. “Building and supporting a business through the intentional use of people not lawfully authorized to work here is a model that we won’t tolerate,” said Brian M. Moskowitz, special agent in charge of ICE HSI in Detroit. “The defendants in this case were given an opportunity to bring their workforce into compliance and failed to do so and the significant ramifications of their actions speak for themselves.”
Read more