Agricultural Personnel Management Program
University of California

7/15/01  News Report -- Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

FORT SMITH -- Thirty employees of a Fort Smith poultry plant will face charges of identity theft Monday after being accused of using false documents to gain employment, federal law enforcement officials said.

The 30 Hispanic employees of Twin Rivers Food were arrested Friday by Immigration and Naturalization Service agents and are being held without bail at the Benton County jail.

INS agents will meet today with prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Arkansas to decide formal charges, Reyes said.

The suspects will be arraigned Monday at 10 a.m. in Fayetteville before U.S. Magistrate Beverly Jones.

Reyes said the 30 men and women face four possible identity theft charges, either misdemeanors or felonies. They could be removed from the country under any of the charges, he said.

Officials at the Fayetteville-based Twin Rivers Food contacted INS about the alleged identity fraud.

The company noticed problems with documents the workers submitted with federal employment verification forms, which are used to prove resident status, said Reyes.

In a written statement, Twin Rivers Food said it fully cooperated with INS. The company said it follows the law for verifying identities and "is not a safe harborage for illegal immigrants from any country."

The suspects gave the company Social Security, immigration and other documents that didn't belong to them, Reyes said. Identity theft is widespread nationwide, federal law enforcement officials said.

"Identity theft is an increasing nationwide problem, and we need to send a clear message that violators will face criminal prosecution," William Cromwell, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, said in a written statement.

"This is not a victimless crime," said Reyes. "The victim is the person who has his identity stolen."

Reyes said Northwest Arkansas residents have had Internal Revenue Service agents contact them about income earned by people who stole their identity or about crimes committed or loans taken out using their stolen names.