A former manager of the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville has been sentenced to over three years in prison. Court records show 49-year-old Hosam Amara pled guilty in August to one count of conspiracy to harbor undocumented aliens for profit.
Amara was the manager of the poultry side of the Agriproccessors plant and admitted that for at least five years up until May of 2008, he conspired with the CEO of the company to hire illegal aliens. The illegals were hired through a seperate company, Hunt Enterprises, to make it appear they were not Agriprocessors employees.
In the plea agreement, Amara also admitted that, in the Fall of 2007, an immigration agent warned Agriprocessors’ human resources manager that certain expired versions of resident alien cards should no longer be accepted as proof that alien employees were authorized to work in the United States. The human resources manager stopped accepting the cards, and Agriprocessors soon had a shortage of workers.
Amara complained to the CEO about the worker shortage, and the CEO began causing new undocumented alien workers to be placed on the payroll of a separate company, Hunt Enterprises, to make it appear the undocumented aliens were not employees of Agriprocessors. Knowing this, Amara told existing undocumented alien workers to encourage their family members to come to Agriprocessors for work.
Amara fled to Israel following the May 2008 immigration raid on the Agriprocessors plant on the advice, and with the help, of the CEO. He was extradited back to the U.S. in April of last year.
Amara was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison where there is no parole.