United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that Juan Pablo Sanchez-Delgado, 40, of Mexico, entered a plea of guilty today to conspiring to harbor aliens.  The guilty plea was entered in Lincoln, Nebraska, before United States Magistrate Judge Cheryl R. Zwart.  Sentencing was scheduled before Chief Judge John M. Gerrard on May 31, 2019, at 11 a.m. in Lincoln.  Conspiring to harbor aliens, when done for financial gain, is punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000.  As part of his plea agreement with the government, Sanchez-Delgado agreed to forfeit four residences in Las Vegas, Nevada, with more than $1,000,000 in equity.  He will further forfeit bank accounts and cash totaling more than $178,000.  The real estate and cash were proceeds of the harboring conspiracy.

Sanchez-Delgado admitted that between January 2015 and July 2017, he conspired with supervisors at multiple agricultural corporations to supply those companies with alien workers who were not authorized to work or remain in the United States.  The corporations contracted with Sanchez-Delgado in an attempt to avoid criminal responsibilities for labor violations.  Sanchez-Delgado, an alien himself, provided hundreds of illegal workers.

Sanchez-Delgado was paid by the companies.  He also took money from the alien workforce by purporting to withhold state and federal employment taxes and converted this money to his own use.  The aliens were also required to cash their paychecks at one of Sanchez-Delgado’s businesses and pay a $50 to $75 check cashing fee.  Sanchez-Delgado generated approximately $5,648,519 through this scheme.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations.