KANSAS CITY, KAN. - The owners of a framing company in Spring Hill, Kan., were sentenced Wednesday to federal prison for harboring undocumented workers, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.
James Humbert, 45, owner of Advantage Framing Systems, Inc., was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison.
Kimberly Humbert, 47, wife of James Humbert and co-owner of company, was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison
Charles Stevens II, 51, brother of Kim Humbert and part-owner of the company, was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison.
The company provided local builders and contractors with engineered floor, pre-built wall panel, and roof truss systems, along with onsite framing erection labor.
Each of the three defendants pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens for commercial advantage. In their pleas, they admitted:
* In March 2012, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service received information that the owners of company engaged foreign citizens who were not lawfully present in the United States.
* To pay undocumented workers who were members of framing crews, the defendants devised a method of payment requiring crew leaders to obtain insurance. The company paid the crew leaders, who were responsible for paying the undocumented workers on their crews.
* The company paid approximately $4.6 million to framing crews while the defendants were aware that some of the crew leaders and their crew members were not lawfully present in the United States.
Grissom commended the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Internal Revenue Service and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble for their work on the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
