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Commercial Fisheries News
Volume 35 Number 8
April 2008
Prison possible for VA immigration violations
NEWPORT NEWS, VA – In mid-March, as Commercial Fisheries News was going to press, the Peabody Corporation, a Virginia company with eight big scallop boats and its own packing plant on the Newport News waterfront, was awaiting sentencing in a US District court on charges of harboring more than 100 illegal aliens over a four-year period.
In return for its guilty plea to a one-count federal immigration law violation last November, the company, under a plea agreement with the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, faces a $500,000 fine and forfeiture of more than $6.25 million in illegal profits.
The consequences for the company’s two owners and principal officers also could be significant.
In a plea agreement in connection with his guilty plea to one count of unlawful employment of aliens, which is a federal misdemeanor, company President William Francis Peabody agreed to pay a fine of $100,000 and could be sentenced to six months in prison.
His daughter, company Vice President Yvonne Michelle Peabody, entered pleas of guilty to one count of unlawful employment of aliens and one count of aiding unauthorized access to a federal government computer. The second count arose from charges that she improperly received information from a federal employee relating to immigration law enforcement efforts. She faces a $50,000 fine and a one-year prison sentence.
According to “an information” filed by the US Attorney’s office, between 2003 and 2006, the company employed 126 illegal aliens in the course of more than 300 scallop fishing trips. An information is a way for a prosecuting attorney to bring criminal charges without an indictment by a grand jury.
Videotape evidence
In a statement of facts prosecutors filed with the court, the government said that the FBI obtained a videotape showing William Peabody advising crew members he believed to be illegal aliens that they should obtain phony ID cards so they could work for the corporation.
Illegal aliens crewing on Peabody boats used false social security cards at least 72 times, according to court documents.
Court documents also reflect that Peabody hired illegal immigrants, primarily from Mexico, to work on its offshore scallop boats. The documents say the company hired the workers “knowing said aliens were unauthorized,” and that it tried to “shield from detection said aliens for the purpose of commercial advantage and private gain.”
Both Peabodys and the company were originally scheduled to be sentenced on March 6, but sentencing was first postponed to March 20 and then to sometime in the future.
That date was likely to be set at a sentencing conference with the federal judge hearing the case on March 20. Although each of the defendants entered a plea agreement with the US Attorney, the sentences set out in each agreement still have to be approved by a judge.
One reason for the delay could be a dispute over whether William Peabody has fully accepted responsibility for his unlawful actions.
According to court documents, the US Attorney has claimed that Peabody testified he “knowingly” employed only about six or seven illegal aliens and hired the rest with a “reckless disregard” for their immigration status, when in fact the number he knowingly hired was 16 or 17.
Peabody’s attorney has argued that his client simply misspoke at the hearing and that the difference is insignificant in any event. But while the difference in number might be small, the consequences could be substantial if the judge believes that Peabody tried to downplay his culpability.
Under federal sentencing guidelines, a criminal defendant’s acceptance of responsibility can reduce the severity of a sentence. The refusal to accept responsibility is one factor a judge may consider when deciding whether to impose a sentence tougher than the minimum called for in the guidelines.
Peabody Corporation has been a significant player in the Mid-Atlantic scallop fishery. In addition to operating eight boats and a packing plant, the company has had its own repair facility in Newport News and has occupied more than 200' of pier space in the Newport News Industrial Park complex.
Stephen Rappaport
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