The owner of a Virginia trucking company that delivered seafood to Asian restaurants and markets has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for hiring and harboring illegal aliens. Bao Ping Wang, 44, will be deported after serving his time in prison, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Manager Trang “Tammy” Lu, 45, was sentenced to two years probation for failing to report a felony.
“ICE aggressively targets employers who violate immigration laws by knowingly employing an unlawful work force,” said D.C. ICE official John P. Torres. “Companies which profit through a business model that incorporates unlawful workers will be held accountable.”
Prosecutors said the defendants’ companies, Hi-Tech Trucking Inc. and SeaLands Food, employed between six and 24 illegal aliens at various times from 2006 through 2009. At least one of the illegal aliens had a criminal record.
According to the court record, Hi-Tech Trucking agreed to forfeit $1.2 million in illegal proceeds.
Wang and Lu provided housing and meals for the illegal alien employees at three “stash houses” in Richmond.
Early in the investigation, undercover officers posing as armored car guards found at least three bunk rooms in a warehouse and many of the Asian workers were in pajamas or appeared to have been sleeping.
According to court records, this is not the first time Wang and Lu have been charged with harboring illegal aliens.
In 2004, federal authorities began investigating the couple and their businesses for money laundering, narcotics trafficking and alien harboring in Baltimore, charging documents said.
In 2005, Wang and Lu pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit alien harboring and to induce aliens to live in the United States.
At least a dozen illegal aliens were employed at their businesses then, and federal authorities said several were identified again in the recent investigation and were wanted by ICE officials.
According to the charging documents, the current operation was a “near mirror” of the Maryland organization.
ICE officials could not be reached Thursday.
