Free Republic

SAN DIEGO - Two executives at a company that once helped build a fence to keep illegal immigrants from crossing the Mexican border were sentenced Wednesday to six months of home confinement for hiring undocumented workers. Mel Kay, founder, chairman and president of Golden State Fence Co., and manager Michael McLaughlin had pleaded guilty in federal court to knowingly hiring illegal aliens. U.S. District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz ordered each to serve 1,040 hours of community service and spend three years on probation.

SAN DIEGO The owner of a company that once helped build a fence to keep illegal immigrants from crossing the Mexican border was sentenced Wednesday in San Diego to six months home confinement for hiring undocumented workers. Mel Kay--founder, chairman and president of Golden State Fence Company--was sentenced along with a company manager, Michael McLaughlin. Both previously pleaded guilty to felony charges of knowingly hiring illegal aliens. McLaughlin was also given six months home confinement by US District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz. Each was ordered to log 1,040 hours of community service and spend three on probation. Kay was also...

A Southern California fence-building company and two executives pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and agreed to pay a combined penalty of $5 million, marking a rare victory for the federal government in prosecuting employers for immigration crimes. Golden State Fence Co. pleaded guilty to the charge as a misdemeanor and agreed to pay $4.7 million to the federal government. It admitted hiring illegal workers between January 1999 and November 2005. Mel Kay, 64, the company's founder, chairman and president, and Michael McLaughlin, 42, manager of the company's Oceanside office, pleaded guilty to the charge...

-- Immigration authorities raided the offices of a Southern California fencing company Wednesday, seizing boxes of documents and arresting 17 employees who are believed to be in the United States illegally. Golden State Fence Co. had rehired some of the 17 employees who were arrested despite previous warnings by federal authorities that they were ineligible to work, officials with the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau said in a press release. Authorities searched company offices in Riverside, where the company is based, and in Oceanside, about 35 miles north of San Diego. All 17 employees arrested were...