UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA ALEXANDRIA    NEWPORT NEWS    NORFOLK    RICHMOND CHUCK ROSENBERG, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

Four Men Indicted For Harboring Illegal Aliens and Money Laundering

(Richmond, Virginia) - Richard Mok Lee, age 48; Edwin Velez, age 40; Guillermo Barreras Poncé, age 32; and Fermin Bolanos Garcia, age 39; all of Richmond, Virginia, were indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and transporting of illegal aliens. Lee and Velez were also charged with promotional money laundering and harboring illegal aliens. The promotional money laundering charge and conspiracy to commit money laundering charge carry maximum penalties of 20 years in prison and a fine of twice the amount of money laundered, which the indictment alleges is over $1,000,000. The harboring and transporting of illegal alien charges both carry maximum penalties of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. and Velez were also charged with promotional money laundering and harboring illegal aliens. Chuck Rosenberg, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Jennifer Love, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Richmond Field Office; C. Andre’ Martin, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CID), Washington Field Office; and Mark McGraw, Acting Special Agent in Charge, United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Washington Field Division, made the announcement.

The defendants were charged following a multi-year investigation led by the FBI and IRS-CID. In 2004, the FBI obtained a lead that these defendants were allegedly smuggling illegal aliens into the United States from Mexico and using them as laborers in a commercial janitorial service company owned by Richard Lee known as Lee/Lee Janitorial Service. FBI agents interviewed several illegal aliens, who had run away from what they described as restrictive work conditions under Lee. These individuals alleged that they were smuggled across the Mexico-Arizona border with the help of a “coyote,” who is someone paid to facilitate the illegal transit, and that they paid back their coyote fee by working for Lee. After these individuals fled back to Mexico, the FBI and IRS-CID engaged in a long term investigation, involving visual surveillance, financial analysis and the development of confidential sources to determine the full scope of the defendants’ criminal activities.

On September 23, 2008, investigators with the FBI, IRS-CID, ICE, the Virginia State Police and Henrico County Police Department executed search and arrest warrants at the several homes and apartments owned or rented by Lee and Velez. Lee, Velez and Poncé were arrested that day on criminal complaints charging them with the above offenses. (Garcia is still at large.)

During the search, investigators with ICE identified 17 alleged illegal aliens being housed by the defendants. Investigators also seized numerous allegedly counterfeit identification documents.

Assistant United States Attorney Brian R. Hood is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.

Criminal indictments are only charges and not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.uspci.uscourts.gov.