Salt Lake City attorney accused in worker-visa scandal to be released from jail

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A Utah immigration attorney and four of his employees accused in a visa fraud scheme on Wednesday entered not guilty pleas to the crimes.

James Hector Alcala, Carlos Manuel Vorher, Andres Lorenzo Acosta Parra and Gustavo Ballesteros-Munoz appeared before U.S. Magistrate David Nuffer. The judge ordered Alcala, Vorher and Acosta Parra released from jail and to be monitored via ankle bracelets.

Nuffer agreed to requests by Alcala and Vorher that Acosta Parra get the only ankle bracelet available Wednesday because his wife is expected to give birth this week. Alcala and Vorher will be released when two more ankle bracelets are available, probably Thursday.

Carlos Enrique Gomez-Alvarez, arrested in New York while taking the bar exam in Buffalo, also entered a not guilty plea in New York on Wednesday and is expected to be transported to Utah this week.

The five are among eight people indicted with various counts of conspiracy, visa fraud and encouraging or inducing undocumented aliens to reside in the United States illegally in connection with the case. An indictment unsealed Tuesday says they helped 10 companies in Salt Lake, Davis and Utah counties get work visas for ineligible foreign workers.

Ballesteros-Munoz is scheduled to have a hearing Thursday.

Authorities are calling the Alcala Law Firm case the largest fraud operation of its kind to be uncovered in Utah. Investigators say more than 700 petitions filed by the Salt Lake City firm led to the issuance of more than 5,000 work visas, the majority of which were fraudulent.

The scheme also "led to untold number of U.S. citizens and legal workers being refused jobs or discouraged from applying at all," said Paul Maldonado, deputy special agent in charge of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Investigations over Utah.

The companies -- which may not have known they were getting bad legal advice -- included landscaping, construction, painting, roofing, steel and property-maintenance businesses but were not names in the indictment. The number of foreign workers who received a visa is not yet known because some might have gotten more than one.

The alleged conspiracy operated from July 2005 to June 2009 and involved the H-2B visa program, under which employers petition for permits that allow foreign nationals to work temporarily in the United States. Employers must demonstrate there are not enough U.S. citizens who are willing and qualified to fill vacant positions. There is a limit of 66,000 H-2B visas issued each year that allow unskilled nonagricultural laborers to stay a maximum of 10 months.

If the foreign national is already in the United States, the employers must show that the worker is in the country legally. Those living in other countries are required to have been physically outside the United States for at least six months prior to receiving the visa.

The indictment claims the defendants gave employers and their employees instructions on how to use the H-2B program, even if the workers were living in the United States illegally and already working for the company. Sometimes, the workers allegedly were told to go back to Mexico and not tell U.S. consular personnel who interviewed them that they had been in the United States recently.

In addition, the law firm employees encouraged companies -- which paid thousands of dollars for legal help -- to apply for more visas than needed so they could illegally "swap" foreign-national workers among employers, according to the indictment.

The investigation began in February 2008 after the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Diplomatic Security received a tip about the law firm. Ed Moreno, the agency's assistant director for domestic operations, said the alleged crimes are "particularly reprehensible" because they involve a law firm and former federal employees: a former border agent and a former consulate visa assistant.

U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman said some companies who hired the law firm believed they were given correct legal advice. Some, though, might have seen red flags, such as being asked to fabricate or fudge information, he said.

The investigation is continuing with interviews of the employer-clients and visa recipients. Utah State Bar officials have initiated disciplinary proceedings against Alcala in 3rd District Court. The case is pending.

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