Rancho Cucamonga Busines Owner Sentenced for Hiring Illegal Immigrants

A Rancho Cucamonga, California furniture company owner was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for hiring illegal immigrants. Rick Vartanian was convicted of obstruction of justice and employing illegal immigrants at his company. Along with the federal prison sentence, a United States District Judge also ordered him to pay a $15,000 fine.

In November 2009, Vartanian told federal investigators with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that the illegal immigrant workers identified during an audit were no longer employed by his company. However, he had kept 18 of them workers on his payroll and was concealing their employment. Federal officials began the investigation  when the immigration agency received an anonymous tip that he had hired the illegal workers. A federal audit of the company's personnel in 2009 found that 61 of the firm's 73 employees had submitted invalid documents to secure employment. 

Brownwood Furniture's vice president, Michael Patrick Eberly, also pleaded guilty to one count of employing unauthorized workers. He was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.

Obstruction of justice is defined by any action that prevents or hinders a judicial process, administration of the courts, law enforcement or correctional actions. Other actions which can result in obstruction of justice charge are interference of an investigation, tampering with evidence and lying while participating in an investigation. Any actions that interfere with the daily operations of any of the three branches of government can result in a obstruction of justice charge.

If you are facing federal charges of obstruction of justice, it is important that you contact Cron, Israels and Starks, as soon as possible. Obstruction of justice can be filed as a misdemeanor or felony and you can face severe consequences, including jail time and fines, along with the permanent criminal record. Regardless of what action you took, you need to have Los Angeles criminal defense attorney who understands federal criminal charges and can evaluate your situation to get the most lenient penalty charged or possibly even have the case dropped. Federal attorneys  Steve Cron and  Philip Israels have been successful in representing clients in Federal Courts for decades.  Call our office for a free case review of your federal criminal charges.