CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Tyson Foods Inc. and six former managers pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges of conspiracy to smuggle illegal immigrants to work at the company's poultry plants.
US. District Court Judge William Carter in Chattanooga, Tenn., scheduled the trial for February 2003.
"The case stems from a three-year undercover 'sting' operation that we believe, resulted in the employment of approximately 50 undocumented workers delivered by government agents to fewer than five Tyson facilities," the Springdale, Ark., -based company said in a statement.
Ken Kimbro, Tyson's senior vice president of Human Resources, described the government's sting operation as "the ultimate Catch-22."
"The government is trying to have it both ways -- they are alleging that Tyson conspired to hire undocumented workers, but at the same time they are accusing the company of scrutinizing workers' documents too closely."
Tyson, one of the world's largest poultry, beef and pork processors, has 120,000 employees at 130 facilities nationwide, and sales of $25 billion last year.
A Dec. 11 indictment accused Tyson and the other defendants of conspiring to smuggle illegal laborers. The indictment implicated 15 plants in Tennessee, Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia.
Assistant U.S. Attorney John P. MacCoon said the government's evidence includes 422 undercover audiotapes, 36 videotapes and 360,000 pages of documents subpoenaed from Tyson.
A conviction on a charged of importing illegal immigrants for commercial advantage can carry a five-year mandatory minimum sentence.
Shares of Tyson closed down 20 cents, or 1.63 percent, Thursday to $12.15 on moderate volume of 1.3 million shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The company's shares had traded between $8.10 and $15.50 over the past year.
