Posted on 09/30/2004 4:12:45 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
McALLEN — The vice president of a temporary employment agency pleaded not guilty this afternoon to charges of falsifying work documents and lying to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force during an investigation into a potential al-Qaida plot here.
James Eckensberger Jr., vice president of the San Antonio-Based Tollin Group, offered no comment after entering his plea in federal court. Just moments earlier, U.S. Attorney Michael Shelby held a news conference shedding some light on the investigation that began as a search for al-Qaida operatives but ultimately netted 10 undocumented workers without terror links.
The Tollin Group operates in McAllen under the name Remedy Intelligent Staffing.
According to the indictment, Remedy provided the McAllen-based Wornick Company with hundreds of workers so Wornick could fulfill a multimillion-dollar contract with the Defense Department.
Wornick is the largest producer of Meals-Ready-to-Eat, or MREs, which the armed forces consume on the battlefield. In the run up to Gulf War II, Wornick was awarded a $47.2 million contract to up its MRE production and delivery.
According to the indictment, defense and FBI officials contacted Wornick management regarding "information (that) had been taken from a high-level al-Qaida operative which indicated the McAllen, Texas area could be the site of a possible terrorist act, and Wornick a possible terrorist target."
Alerted that terrorists had identified McAllen and Wornick by name as a terror target, most likely to contaminate the millions of MREs shipped to U.S. troops, the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force began an investigation into all of Wornick's employees, Shelby said.
The terrorist threat at Wornick has since been removed, Special Agent Steven Ibison said, and no terrorist infiltration was found at the company.
But investigators did find illegal workers with access to the whole MRE production process, all hired through Remedy.
The indictment alleges that Remedy falsified hundreds of work permits, known as I-9s, and during the course of the FBI investigation, gave them knowingly false documents.
"Companies that willfully violate our nation's immigration laws potentially trade long-term security for short-term profits," Shelby said in a prepared statement. "While no direct links to terrorism have been discovered in this case, the undocumented worker is vulnerable to anyone who seeks to exploit his illegal status."
In a separate but similar case, federal agents on Wednesday raided the Port of Brownsville and arrested 41 illegal contract workers. An employment company hired the workers for AMFELS, Inc., a large shipyard company and defense contractor.
---------------------mcastillo@express-news.net
Yeah, we were looking for murderers and found thieves. Like they should be let off the hook.
South Texas Ping!
"Remedy provided the McAllen-based Wornick Company with hundreds of workers so Wornick could fulfill a multimillion-dollar contract with the Defense Department."
Appears to me something similiar happened to Walmart about a year ago with Walmart being named in a lawsuit. When will we hear about the DOD contractor being charged also?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
