After nearly three years, the trial b egan in a crim ina l case alleging Tyson Foods participated in a multi-year conspiracy to smuggle Mexican workers to the US and supply them with false documents in order for the la b orers to work in a Tyson plant in the southern United States . Tyson is the nation's largest meat producer and processor. This is the first time a company as large as Tyson has b een indicted for charges of this nature and the government is hoping the case sends a message to employers across the country.

Prosecutors told jurors in their opening arguments that corporate greed led the company to support the scheme. According to prosecutors, Tyson flouted immigration rules b y assisting the Mexican workers in o b taining phony documents such as Social Security cards and driver's licenses. Prosecutors also said the company switched from hiring the illegal workers directly and instead deli b erately used temporary employment agencies to avoid having to avoid the INS' electronic employee eligi b ility data b ase. The company is alleged to have known that the employment agencies gene rally supplied illegal workers.

Tyson defended its conduct and b lamed "rogue employees" who operated without the knowledge of senior management at the company's Arkansas headquarters. The company noted that it voluntarily participates in the INS' pilot computer prog ram and that it dismissed or disciplined the employees involved in the alleged scheme. "No senior executive forced any employee, directly or indirectly, to commit the crimes charged in this indictment," said Tom Green, a Tyson attorney.

For a crim ina l case of this nature against a company, prosecutors can seek a forfeiture claim. This type of claim allows the government to seize all profits that the company received as a result of the crim ina l actions. The government initially claimed that this amounted to $130 million, b ut the government is b elieved to have since reduced that figure. Neither the company nor prosecutors are pu b licly stating what that reduced amount actually is.

According to the Decem b er 2001 indictment, employees of Tyson arranged for 26 vehicles filled with Mexican workers to take the workers to Tyson plants in Tennessee , Virginia , North Carol ina and Arkansas . Prosecutors claim that Tyson plants in Kentucky , Pennsylvania and Missouri were also seeking illegal Mexican workers.

One of the government's first witnesses was Benito Maldonado, a special agent with the INS. Maldonado told the jury that in 1997 he initially lea rned of the scheme when he met a man in Shel b yville , Tennessee who introduced him to a fo rm er Tyson employee who ran a grocery store with a Mexican clientele. The store's owner also provided false documents to Mexican immigrants. That store owner, Amador Anchondo-Rascon has p lea ded guilty and is now a witness for the prosecution. The INS agent, acting undercover, entered into a partnership with Mr. Anchondo-Rascon to help illegal workers get work with a Tyson plant in North Carol ina . Over two and a half years, Mr. Anchondo-Rascon worked with Maldonado and other government agents to connect 150 illegal workers with Tyson plants.

The government has more than 400 tapes it is including as evidence in the case. It also is getting cooperation from two employees that have already p lea ded guilty. One other employee that had p lea ded guilty, Jimmy Rowland, killed himself last April. Three other employees allegedly involved in the scheme have b een placed on administrative lea ve and another has retired.