297 immigrants plead guilty in four days

WATERLOO, Iowa, May 23 (UPI) -- Almost 300 illegal immigrants arrested in a raid on an Iowa meatpacking plant were sentenced this week to five months in prison for using false documents.

The immigrants, mostly from Guatemala, were brought in groups of 10 to a temporary courtroom set up at the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds in Waterloo, The New York Times reported Friday. They pled guilty, speaking through a Spanish interpreter.

The hearings ended Friday with 297 people entering guilty pleas in four days. On some days, court was in session from 8 a.m. to almost 10 p.m.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 389 people in a May 12 raid on Agriprocessors in Pottsville. Those sentenced this week agreed to plea bargains that included five-month sentences followed by immediate deportation.

Defense lawyers said Matt M. Dummermuth, the U.S. attorney for northern Iowa, told the immigrants they could be prosecuted for identity theft, which carries at least a two-year sentence.