SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A federal jury has acquitted two women who were accused of aiding and abetting illegal immigrants working at a George’s Inc. poultry plant.
Hilda Gomez and Jody Salinas had faced charges that they harbored illegal immigrants in the United States and helped one use counterfeit identifications in order to work at the plant at Butterfield in Barry County. The charges came after federal agents raided the plant in May 2007 and arrested 136 suspected illegal immigrants.
Lawyers for Gomez, who worked as a receptionist at the plant, said she had “no authority or discretion over hiring and firing decisions.” Salinas worked as a personnel director at the plant.
A jury acquitted the two last week after a five-day trial.
Gomez and Salinas were two of seven employees at the George’s plant who were arrested for allegedly helping illegal immigrants get and maintain jobs there. In January, a jury found former personnel department employee Dora Ruiz guilty on two counts stemming from the arrests, while Sinthia Valadez-Ramirez, another former employee, pleaded guilty to helping others commit identity theft.
Local News
<img src=" http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/courts.gif " border=0> Jury acquits women in immigration case
- Local News
-
-
Electric bill to drop $6 a month in Joplin
The Missouri Public Service Commission has approved a request filed by The Empire District Electric Company, based in Joplin, to lower the fuel adjustment charge (FAC) on the bills of its electric customers.
-
Mo. Legislature officially ends its 2012 session
Missouri's annual legislative session has officially come to a close.
-
Strong to severe storms forecast for Joplin region
Storms developing across the central and southern plains this afternoon are expected to migrate into the Joplin region this evening.
-
Economic-development strategies posed for Joplin region
More than 30 people shared ideas Wednesday on ways to promote economic development in the seven counties that are participating in the Joplin Regional Prosperity Initiative.
-
Kansas primary filing deadline near
Kansas candidates have until noon Friday for file for county offices in the Aug. 7 primary.
-
Date set to reintroduce rare beetle in Missouri
An endangered species of beetle will be reintroduced in southwest Missouri on June 5.
-
Senators: Missouri River flooding unifying moment
Two U.S. senators who symbolize disagreements between upstream and downstream states over management of the Missouri River say last year’s historic flooding was a unifying moment.
-
First-ever electricity for parts of India
The solar power company SunEdison is launching a program to get electricity for the first time to more than two dozen villages in India.
-
Couple 'scoop out' ice cream business from the past
When 3-year-old Brynlee Rabel tried coconut ice cream for the first time Tuesday, it was love at first taste. “She got the vanilla, but when she tasted my coconut ice cream she had to have it,” said Kayleigh Daugherty, a Joplin resident who wanted Brynlee to share the same experience she had as a little girl when she visited Anderson’s Ice Cream.
-
Missouri National Guard releases records involving soldiers who looted from Wal-Mart
The Missouri National Guard has released records confirming that four soldiers were disciplined for taking merchandise from the ruins of a Wal-Mart store in Joplin one day after the tornado that devastated the city a year ago.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Electric bill to drop $6 a month in Joplin
