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| -Lurid Crime Tales- | ||
| Employer of Illegals sent to slammer | ||
| 2008-05-02 | ||
| A federal judge sent a message to the commercial fishing community on Wednesday that getting caught employing illegal immigrants will land you in jail. Despite calls for leniency from prosecution and defense attorneys, U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson gave Yvonne Michelle Peabody, operator of the Peabody Corp., 90 days in prison for employing undocumented workers over a four-year period. The Newport News-based Peabody Corp. owns a fleet of trawlers used mostly for scalloping. Michelle Peabody, as she is known, and her father, company founder William “Frankie” Peabody, pleaded guilty to employing illegal immigrants. The elder Peabody was sentenced Wednesday to five months of home confinement with electronic monitoring. Jackson also ordered Michelle Peabody to serve four months of home detention after she gets out of custody. The Peabodys previously agreed to pay $6.9 million in fines and forfeitures, which represents the profits they made using the undocumented workers. But the question of jail time remained unanswered as Jackson considered the backgrounds of the defendants and other factors. “The court finds your conduct to be egregious,” Jackson told Michelle Peabody, noting that the government As company vice president, Michelle Peabody handles day-to-day operations and was held largely responsible for employing 126 illegal immigrants over a four-year period, through 2006, a problem that law enforcement officials said is pervasive in the fishing industry. Jackson gave a number of reasons for giving Peabody prison time but noted in particular her role as chairwoman of the law enforcement subcommittee of the regional fisheries council while conducting the illegal activity. The maximum sentence for her crimes was a year in prison. Her attorney, Kenneth D. Bell, in arguing for leniency, said he’d never seen in 25 years of practice someone with no criminal record getting jail time for a first misdemeanor offense.
Peabody faced tougher punishment than her father because she also pleaded guilty to unauthorized access of a government computer. She admitted that she obtained sensitive information from her one-time Coast Guard boyfriend. The boyfriend, Morris Wade Hughes, was convicted of related charges and is awaiting sentencing.
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| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |
| #4 Should've moved the operation up here to New Bedford or Fall River. She'd be a lefty goddess. Deval Patrick would probably do Make It In Massachusetts commercials with her. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-05-02 17:27 |
| #3 90 days, hell! Give her 9 YEARS, and make her do every damned day of it. Send a BIG message! |
| Posted by: Thaimble Scourge of the Pixies4707 2008-05-02 17:23 |
| #2 Let them swim with the fishes. |
| Posted by: James Samuel 2008-05-02 15:13 |
| #1 Good going Judge. JAIL is the only thing these people will understand. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2008-05-02 04:59 |