Plea change scheduled for official charged in largest workplace raid on illegal immigrants

Plea change hearing set in immigration raid case

JACKSON, Miss. — The only company official charged in the nation’s largest workplace raid on illegal immigrants is scheduled to change his not guilty plea at a court hearing Wednesday.

Jose Humberto Gonzalez had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and identity theft charges, among others, related to the raid on Howard Industries in Laurel, Miss., on Aug. 25, 2008.

Nearly 600 suspected illegal immigrants were detained at the plant, which makes electrical transformers.

Several attorneys representing Gonzalez, the company’s former personnel director, didn’t immediately respond Tuesday to messages.

Prosecutors say Gonzalez hired illegal immigrants he knew had stolen identities and instructed others to obtain fake documents. They declined further comment on Wednesday’s hearing.