U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas
1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699
Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DALLAS, TEXAS
CONTACT: 214/659-8600
www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn

MAY 8, 2006

 

THREE EXECUTIVES OF MIDWEST AIRPORT SERVICES, INC.SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON

Two DFW Airport Janitorial Service Contractors Admit to
Knowingly Hiring Unauthorized Aliens and Agree to Pay Hefty Fines

United States Attorney Richard B. Roper announced today that Karen Sue Rowell, the President of Midwest Airport Services, Inc., (Midwest) and Edward John Pitre, a former Operations Manager at Midwest, were sentenced today in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas. Midwest and Service Performance Corporation (SPC) provide janitorial services for commercial air carriers at DFW Airport. These two corporations were also sentenced today.

The Honorable Terry R. Means, United States District Judge, sentenced Pitre, age 49, to 15 months imprisonment and sentenced Rowell, age 47, to nine months imprisonment. Pitre was ordered to pay a $1000.00 fine and Rowell was ordered to pay a $5000.00 fine. In July 2005 Pitre was convicted by a federal jury of one felony count of conspiracy to unlawfully harbor and shield illegal aliens from detection. The same month, Rowell pled guilty to one felony count of aiding and abetting in false representation of U.S. citizenship. Another Midwest executive, Silvia Castillo, an Office Manager, pled guilty in August 2005 to the felony offense of aiding and abetting a Midwest employee who made a false statement by certifying on an INS form that the Social Security Number was correct. Silvia Castillo was ordered to pay a $2000.00 fine and is currently serving her eight-month sentence. Judge Means ordered that both Rowell and Pitre surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on June 12, 2006.

The corporations, Midwest and SPC, pled guilty to immigration violations in March 2006 and today Judge Means ordered Midwest to pay a $150,000.00 fine and ordered SPC to pay a $600,000.00 fine. Midwest admitted that from 1999 through 2002 it knowingly and unlawfully employed at least 50 unauthorized aliens to work at DFW Airport. SPC admitted that from 1999 through 2002, it knowingly and unlawfully employed at least 200 unauthorized aliens to work at DFW Airport. During part of that time, Midwest and SPC had common ownership.

As part of their cooperation with the government, SPC and Midwest have instituted a comprehensive compliance program to insure that only legally documented workers will be employed

U.S. Attorney Roper said, “Airport safety and security is a paramount concern. These convictions and the resulting cooperation by these corporations will help insure that only legally documented workers will be employed at Dallas-Fort-Worth International Airport.”

On November 20, 2002, a task force consisting of multiple agencies conducted a surprise security sweep of DFW International Airport. The purpose of this security operation was to execute felony complaints and arrest warrants for nearly 100 illegal alien employees working for several companies within secure areas at DFW airport. Nearly 65 illegal alien employees from several companies were arrested during this operation. Over the next several years, substantial resources were dedicated to insure that key management personnel of these three companies were prosecuted. Owners, key managers, and administrators of Midwest, SPC and DFW Café, Inc. were later prosecuted to deter other companies from using fraudulent documents to conceal the systematic employment of illegal aliens within secure areas of DFW Airport.

Other Midwest managers pled guilty to various federal charges. Guadalupe Flores Marquez, an Office Administrator, pled guilty in September 2004 to the felony offense of aiding and abetting a Midwest employee who falsely represented in Midwest records that a Social Security Number was assigned to the employee; Melisa Sanchez Clayton Drop, a Project Manager at Midwest, pled guilty in August 2005 to the felony offense of aiding and abetting a Midwest employee who made a false representation of U.S. citizenship in Midwest employment records; and Midwest Assistant Office Manager, Abner Kalim Anglada, pled guilty in August 2005 to the felony offense of aiding and abetting a Midwest employee who made a false representation of U.S. citizenship in Midwest employment records.

SPC’s Operations Manager, Josue Silva, also pled guilty in March 2006 to the felony offense of aiding and abetting a SPC employee who made a false representation of U.S. citizenship. Doris Yolanda Young, a former SPC Operations Manager at DFW Airport, pled guilty last month to the felony offense of aiding and abetting an individual’s use of a false Social Security number. Cheryl Elliott, SPC’s Vice-President of Human Resources, and Richard Jenkins, SPC’s Vice-President of Regional Operations each pled guilty last month to conspiracy to unlawfully employ unauthorized aliens. Silva, Young, Elliott and Jenkins are all scheduled to be sentenced in July 2006.

Co-owners of DFW Café, Inc. also pled guilty to federal charges. Alfonso Anile pled guilty in December 2003 to the felony offense of false representation of a Social Security Number and was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment. Jack Dempsey Cromer pled guilty in October 2003 to a felony tax charge and was sentenced to three years probation.

This case resulted from the joint investigative efforts of the FBI, Social Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Department of Public Safety. Assistant United States Attorney David Jarvis was the prosecutor.