NORFOLK
A federal judge sent a message to the commercial fishing community on Wednesday that getting caught employing illegal immigrants will land you in jail.
Despite calls for leniency from prosecution and defense attorneys, U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson gave Yvonne Michelle Peabody, operator of the Peabody Corp., 90 days in prison for employing undocumented workers over a four-year period.
The Newport News-based Peabody Corp. owns a fleet of trawlers used mostly for scalloping. Michelle Peabody, as she is known, and her father, company founder William “Frankie” Peabody, pleaded guilty to employing illegal immigrants.
The elder Peabody was sentenced Wednesday to five months of home confinement with electronic monitoring. Jackson also ordered Michelle Peabody to serve four months of home detention after she gets out of custody.
The Peabodys previously agreed to pay $6.9 million in fines and forfeitures, which represents the profits they made using the undocumented workers. But the question of jail time remained unanswered as Jackson considered the backgrounds of the defendants and other factors.
“The court finds your conduct to be egregious,” Jackson told Michelle Peabody, noting that the government could have easily charged her with felony crimes.
As company vice president, Michelle Peabody handles day-to-day operations and was held largely responsible for employing 126 illegal immigrants over a four-year period, through 2006, a problem that law enforcement officials said is pervasive in the fishing industry.
Jackson gave a number of reasons for giving Peabody prison time but noted in particular her role as chairwoman of the law enforcement subcommittee of the regional fisheries council while conducting the illegal activity. The maximum sentence for her crimes was a year in prison.
Her attorney, Kenneth D. Bell, in arguing for leniency, said he’d never seen in 25 years of practice someone with no criminal record getting jail time for a first misdemeanor offense.
Michelle Peabody apologized to the judge and tried to explain why it happened.
“We never as a business or a family sat down and decided to hire illegals, but we did. We’re very sorry and I’m very sorry,” she said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph E. DePadilla recommended that she serve community confinement, such as in a halfway house, based on her cooperation with the government since her arrest.
He said she has assisted in a drug case. She also has assisted in another illegal immigrant case, her attorney said.
Both sides also agreed that the workers were treated and paid fairly.
The workers earned more than $10,000 per fishing trip, the prevailing wage for scallopers.
“During this investigation, no evidence of mistreatment of workers was uncovered,” DePadilla wrote in a court filing. “Peabody Corp. officers valued foreign born workers because they were diligent workers who did not complain.”
Peabody faced tougher punishment than her father because she also pleaded guilty to unauthorized access of a government computer.
She admitted that she obtained sensitive information from her one-time Coast Guard boyfriend. The boyfriend, Morris Wade Hughes, was convicted of related charges and is awaiting sentencing.
Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com
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Why suggest no jailtime?
Is anyone else outraged that the U.S. prosecuting attorney, whose last name is Padilla, and is supposed to be representing us, tried to keep her from doing jailtime?
Re: Illegals Demonstrating..Call to Arms?..Outraged
"ILLEGAL ALIENS ARE DEMONSTRATING NATIONWIDE TODAY!" Why get outraged? Sounds like it will be easy for INS (La Migra) to round them up.
"A CALL TO ARMS FOR ALL PATRIOTIC CITIZENS and LEGAL RESIDENTS!"
Call to arms? Sounds like you want to shoot them.
"is that anything like when you take a POW and snap his neck after you torture him so he doesn't have to go through life with a colostomy bag?"
Major Payne
A CALL TO ARMS FOR ALL PATRIOTIC CITIZENS and LEGAL RESIDENTS!
ILLEGAL ALIENS ARE DEMONSTRATING NATIONWIDE TODAY!
A CALL TO ARMS FOR ALL PATRIOTIC CITIZENS and LEGAL RESIDENTS!
All patriotic Americans should jam the Washington switchboards today. Stop illegal immigration.! YOU CAN ALSO CALL your Congressmen today, and demand they co-author The Federal SAVE ACT (H.R. 4088). Toll free at 18778516437 and 18662200044 & 12022243121 AND REGISTER YOUR OUTRAGE. Also petition to build the border fence as originally planned at grassfire.
JAM THE WASHINGTON SWITCHBOARDS TODAY!
Samson
I agree with you 100%
Mandate that all employers use E-Verify
All states need to mandate that E-Verify be used, by all employers, to sort out the illegal, immigrants, or aliens, and replacing them with our own currently unemployed people.
Oklahoma apssed harsh new laws against illegals in May, 2007, that went into effect in November, 2007, and by March, 2008, Oklahoma's unemployment rate plummeted to the 4th lowest unemployment rate, of any state, in our United States, 3.1%
Just today, Rhode Island passed legislation that mandates the use of E-Verify by all employers, making a total of 11 states that are now using E-Verify.
Ranking of States from lowest to highest unemployment:
http://www.bls.gov/web/laumstrk.htm
33 MAINE 5.0
34 INDIANA 5.1
35 NORTH CAROLINA 5.2
36 CONNECTICUT 5.3
36 GEORGIA 5.3
38 ILLINOIS 5.5
39 TENNESSEE 5.6
40 KENTUCKY 5.7
40 MISSOURI 5.7
40 OHIO 5.7
40 OREGON 5.7
40 SOUTH CAROLINA 5.7
45 NEVADA 5.8
46 MISSISSIPPI 6.0
47 RHODE ISLAND 6.1
48 CALIFORNIA 6.2
48 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 6.2
50 ALASKA 6.7
51 MICHIGAN 7.2
As you can see, Rhode Island currently ranks 47th worst among all states with an unemployment rate of 6.1%.
I'm not sure when Rhode Island's new law wil
And Another Thought..
...while I await the Pilot to "approve" my first comment! I approve of the fine. The jail time could have been more and at a correctional facility, not a "confined to the home" sentence. If you deport illegals, say on the Eastern shore?..I would go and work on weekends to supplement my own income AND pay taxes into the social security system. I'd be helping my country and also working outside performing good, hard labor, which I have never been afraid to do! Wonder what would happen to the farmers if the government had a "Work Program" that allowed and/or ordered welfare recipients to work on farms to keep prices down and also safe guard the borders of the U.S. to stem the rising illegal immigrant issue. Of course, I can only wish for such a happening!
You rule Sampson!!
Tell it like it is brother, in english like it's supposed to be. Last time I checked this is not an english class but a comment board. I agree with you 100%. The illegals are having a negitive impact on American society. We should all stay in touch with our elected officials and tell them we want some major changes done to stop this surge of illegal immigration. mmactor needs to head 'Ol Mexico if he thinks you are a biggot. You are entitled to your opinion as much as the next American!
Samson I agree with your
Samson I agree with your major points.
Samson's comments: "I don't want to be offensive"
Too late Samson on not wanting to be offensive.
"It just burns me to go out and hear all the Spanish speaking families having full blown conversations in Spanish. We live on the eastern shore and I swear it's 4 Mexican immigrants that can't speak English to every American born "citizen". I don't want to be offensive, but I just want to say to each...speak English, be LEGAL or leave my country. They are bring down the value of our country. If you want to live in a slum with dirt floors and drive clunkers then go back to Ole Mexico."
You sound like a biggot, Samson. And to top it off, I find it ironic (or at least hypocritical that you want them to speak english, be legal or leave "your" country...wow, that opens a whole different topic right there! On another note, before you come down on anyone about speaking english, please check your own grammar!
Our government is worse and sends wrong message
I have been hammered with the propaganda that it is the Iraq war and the war on terror that is bankrupting us. RIDICULOUS.
1.$11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens
each year by state governments.
2.$2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs
such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.
3.$2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.
4.$12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school
education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English!
5.$17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.
6.$3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.
7.30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.
8.$90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare &
social services by the American taxpayers.
9.$200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused
by the illegal aliens.
10.The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate
that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particul
Throw them in jai!
It's about time that SOMEONE got jail time for breaking the law and hiring illegal immigrants! The 6 million plus fine was NOT ENOUGH and these people deserve jail time for what they did and because it sends a message to other corporations who hire illegal aliens--YOU CANNOT BUY YOUR WAY OUT WITH A FINE!! I'd have been happier to see them do five years for this offense--we need to send a message because these illegal aliens are bleeding us dry with taxes for schools for their illegal children and welfare and Medicaid and the cost of their crimes! If you hire illegal aliens YOU GO TO JAIL. End of Story!! This judge is a hero to the American taxpayer!!
illegal immigrants
That fishing business should move operations up here to Maine. This idiotic legislature up here has passed laws preventing us from asking if anyone is here legal or not. ACLU and NAACP stays on top of any violations of the laws because of these leeches "Civil rights"? They should not have any American Rights until they become legal or citizens. The Motor Vehicle Bureau issues licenses using 999-99-9999 if they don't have a social security number. The biggest city in Maine(Portland) has over 50 languages spoken in the High School!
RE: Go After More..
Sure! Go after more. A few days ago, the Pilot ran the article about the Eastern shore with illegals. What the Virginia State Police alluded to in the article is that "They Know" where "they" are! So why isn't immigration called in to arrest and deport? Simple, very simple! The law makers with ties to the farmers are in collusion with one another. At a high level across political and law enforcement ranks-they look the other way! I wonder what the law would be if a private company started making arrests on its own, secretly, and started flying illegals out of the country. Before some people start yelling $10.00 tomatoes, ask the family members who have lost loved ones to eastern shore illegals driving drunk. Still, would love to see something along these lines start to happen. Was it Dare County that voted for English as the "Official Language"? Yes Sir..turn the heat up!!
A step in the right direction
I am so pleased to see that this company received this penalty. I am all for legal immigration, but when a decent paying job is hard to come by in the states anymore anyway, companies shouldn't be able to reap the benefits from the hiring of illegals. What companies fail to realize is that when you pay less, less goes into the economy and then people have LESS to spend at businesses. Send all illegal aliens home, start hunting down all companies who hire illegals and subject them to the same penalties. Make this country inhospitable to illegal aliens and then just MAYBE some of the problem will finally get taken care of.
It`s a start!
A very slow start!!!! Let`s not only hit every company that hires illegals and throw thier butts in jail, but every one of these so called "sancuary cities" also!! First stop 100% of all federal money to that city! Then arrest the city council people that voted for sancuary status, even if they are no longer in office!! Then any church that hides or supports illegals, the pastor and the board should be punished, including the one I go to!! I have made it clear that if they are illegal get them saved and get them back home til they are LEGAL! NOW that would be a start! We have to do something about the hispanic invasion NOW!!! The gangs too must be stopped!!
Why suggest a halfway house?
What is wrong with Assistant CA Joseph Padilla that he would try to keep her from serving any jailtime? Who is he representing anyway?
I wonder.....
How many the state employs? Not throwing stones here as this is an issue caused by our government not enforcing the immigration laws. I travel Rt. 58 & 460 daily and see a grass cutting contractor weekly and while I occasionally see caucasian and black men and women but by far they apparently employ Latino folks. I would be curious to see if all these guys are legal?
The punishment fits the crime in this case
I can agree somewhat with Mark, that it is a start. It is hopefully a first step in stemming the tide(no pun intended)in this practice of hiring illegal immigrants. I hope this sentance sends a very loud and clear message to employers here in Virginia, and nationwide that hiring illegals will result in jail time/heavy fines. I feel that the punishment fits the crime especially with the circumstances involved in this case. It might be a slap on the wrist, but again the judge sent a good message to the defendants.
$6.9 million
I would have taken the $6.9 million and moved to wherever the illegals came from.
But, really, this needs a lot of publicity.
Oops...
I should have said driving "without" a license or insurance. And more employers should be held accountable and sent to jail as well as fined for allowing it.