Markenzy Lapointe U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida
On January 24, Martinez Builders Supply, operating as East Coast Trust (ECT), and Kelly Yanira Del Valle from Fort Pierce, Florida, received sentences after admitting to charges of conspiring to harbor undocumented workers through employment. Del Valle also faced charges for filing false tax returns.
ECT was given a two-year probation sentence that includes implementing a corporate compliance program. The company must forfeit $450,000 to the United States and pay a $100,000 fine. Del Valle received a 13-month prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release. She was ordered to forfeit $100,000 to the United States and pay $100,146 in restitution to the IRS.
Between June 2018 and August 2021, Del Valle and several ECT officers were involved in employing undocumented migrants. An audit conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in June 2018 revealed many unauthorized employees at ECT. To conceal their status, these workers were moved from ECT’s payroll to two shell companies while continuing their employment at ECT. Del Valle received payments for each migrant transferred.
From June 2018 to July 2021, funds were transferred by ECT through agents and employees into bank accounts managed by Del Valle under the shell companies' names to pay these workers.
On August 6, 2021, HSI agents found 28 undocumented migrants working at ECT’s headquarters in St. Lucie County.
The announcement was made by Acting U.S. Attorney Michael S. Davis for the Southern District of Florida; Acting Special Agent in Charge José R. Figueroa of HSI Miami; and Special Agent in Charge Emmanuel Gomez of the IRS Criminal Investigation Miami Field Office.
The investigation involved HSI Fort Pierce Field Office and IRS CI Miami Filed Office with support from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), U.S. Border Patrol Miami Sector, U.S. Secret Service (USSS) Miami Field Office, St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, and Fort Pierce Police Department (FPPD). Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Porter prosecuted the case.
Further court documents can be accessed on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida or via PACER under case numbers 24-cr-14019 and 24-cr-14035.
