A Chula Vista man who is the former vice president of operations for two airline mechanic staffing companies has pleaded not guilty to 40 federal charges of making false statements on immigration documents and to authorities.
Eleno “Max” Quinteros, Jr., 46, was named in a grand jury indictment that alleged he took payments of hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees from the employees with their legal permanent resident applications.
Quinteros appeared March 16 before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Jan Adler who set bail at $50,000.
Employers are prohibited by law from demanding payment for their fees, including attorneys’ fees, with work visas, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Quinteros was responsible for recruiting Mexican airline mechanics to work in the United States for the companies and for helping recruits to obtain work visas. The indictment alleges he charged 20 people several thousand dollars apiece.
There are 20 counts of making false statements in support of an immigration application and 20 counts of making false statements to authorities.
“Lying to get a green card is a serious offense, particularly when the lie is an employer’s false statement that he has not extracted prohibited fees from his employees,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Alana Robinson.
“This office is committed to combatting immigration fraud and preventing those in a position to exploit lawful immigrants from doing so,” said Robinson.
“Our message is simple—America’s legal immigration system is not for sale,” said Joseph Macias, special agent with the Homeland Security Investigations in Los Angeles.
“In addition to posing significant security and safety vulnerabilities, visa fraud undermines the integrity of our legal immigration process and penalizes those who abide by the law,” said Macias.
Quinteros will next appear in court on April 3 to set future court dates for motions and trial.
