The second-in-command for an airport contractor that hired illegal immigrants to do janitorial work at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport has been found guilty of one of 12 counts against him for his role in the operation.
Edward Pitre, 49, was convicted by a jury Tuesday in U.S. District Judge Terry Means' court of conspiracy to unlawfully employ illegal immigrants and shield them from detection, authorities said.
The jury found Pitre not guilty on five counts of making false representation of U.S. citizenship and six counts of misuse of a Social Security number, said Kathy Colvin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office for the Northern District of Texas.
Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 14, Colvin said.
Pitre was operations manager and second-in-command at Midwest Airport Services.
The company and seven employees were indicted in 2004 after a sweep by federal agents at D/FW Airport found that illegal immigrants had had access to secure areas for several years.
The nationwide sweep, called Operation Tarmac, resulted in 62 warrants for D/FW workers employed by different companies.
A major piece of the prosecution's case against Pitre was an affidavit he signed in which he said he knew that many Midwest employees were illegal immigrants.
During opening statements, Pitre's attorney, Doug Greene, told jurors that federal investigators manipulated Pitre into signing the affidavit and cooperating with them.
Last week, Midwest President Karen Rowell and office manager Silvia Castillo reached agreements in which they pleaded guilty to one charge each for their roles in the operation.
Rowell, who had faced 63 counts, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting a person in making false representation of U.S. citizenship, according to court documents.
Castillo, who had faced 33 counts, pleaded guilty to one count of making a false and fraudulent statement, court documents show.
Two other Midwest employees, project manager/operations manager Melissa Dropp and assistant project manager Guadalupe Marquez, have also pleaded guilty to related charges.
Both are scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 15, court documents show.
A jury trial has been scheduled for Aug. 22 for Midwest assistant office manager Abner Anglada, according to court documents.
Prosecutors dropped charges against clerk Aquita Boyd in May.
