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O'Hare Airport security badges issued to illegal aliens
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The owner of a temporary employment agency and her assistant were sentenced in federal court Wednesday for harboring illegal aliens and assisting those workers in obtaining unauthorized access to secure areas at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, including the tarmac, according to a government report obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police.
Mary Gurin, 38, of Carpentersville, Illinois, and Norinye Benitez, 26, of Franklin Park, Illinois, were sentenced on September 30 by U.S. District Judge Elaine E. Bucklo, Northern District of Illinois, for harboring illegal aliens for financial gain. Gurin, who pleaded guilty May 11 to the charge, was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison. Benitez received 12 months and one day of imprisonment following her December 12, 2008 guilty plea.
According to documents filed in court, Gurin owned Ideal Staffing, a staffing agency located in Bensenville,
Illinois, that contracted with several companies to provide temporary employees for work done in and around O'Hare.
Between February 2006 and November 2007, Gurin knowingly employed at least 54 illegal workers and arranged for them to fraudulently obtain airport security badges by falsely certifying information on the security badge application forms. The badges allowed the workers to enter secure areas while loading pallets, freight and meals for companies doing business at O'Hare, including some commercial airlines.
At times, Gurin also knowingly distributed airport security badges issued in other names to the illegal workers, which circumvented the appropriate security screening process and allowed illegal workers access to secure areas.
The 54 illegal workers from Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador all faced state felony charges for possessing fraudulent identification in the form of an airport security badge. So far, authorities have recovered 34 fraudulent airport badges.
"These cases illustrate the need for ICE's continued vigilance to protect our nation's airports and other critical infrastructure," said John Morton, assistant secretary of Homeland Security for ICE. "The defendants circumvented airport security and the screening process in the name of greed."
According to court documents, Gurin supervised the work of Norinye Benitez, her office assistant. Under Gurin's direction, Benitez assisted hiring between 35 and 40 illegal workers and fraudulently obtained airport security badges for them. Benitez admitted to falsifying information on employment forms for workers who did not have proper identification, and to knowingly hiring illegal workers who presented counterfeit documents.
Benitez is herself an illegal alien and will be transferred to ICE custody after she completes her prison sentence.
He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in
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the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. Kouri writes for many police and security magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer and others. He's a news writer for TheConservativeVoice.Com and PHXnews.com. He's also a columnist for AmericanDaily.Com, MensNewsDaily.Com, MichNews.Com, and he's syndicated by AXcessNews.Com. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. To subscribe to Kouri's newsletter write to COPmagazine@aol.com and write "Subscription" on the subject line.
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