MADISON, WIS. – A Bruce, Wisconsin man was sentenced today for making false materials statements to the U.S. Department of Labor and to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security concerning foreign workers. The sentencing is announced by Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin.
Alfredo Aguilar, 52, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to eighteen months in prison. Aguilar was ordered to pay restitution to the non-citizen workers in the amount of $1,144,693.56 and a civil penalty in the amount of $210,696.39. Aguilar pleaded guilty to these charges on January 13, 2023 and has paid over the full fine and restitution for the immigrant workers.
From 2015 until December 2018, Aguilar was a co-owner of Northwoods Forestry, Inc., a business based in Eleva, Wisconsin. Aguilar recruited workers from Mexico and Central America, known as H-2B workers, to work in forestry by planting and caring for trees and clearing and developing woodland. Through the H-2B program, employers are permitted to hire temporary workers from other countries to perform labor to address one-time, seasonal, intermittent, or peak needs. Northwoods Forestry agents made statements and attestations under oath to the Department of Labor and USCIS regarding the type of work the workers would do and the wages they would receive.
Aguilar admitted that he placed Northwoods Forestry H-2B...
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