Final TIMCO Defendant Files Guilty Plea

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) _ The last defendant among 27 who worked at an aviation repair company before being arrested on immigration charges has pleaded guilty.

Jose Sapiandante, 33, admitted Friday that he submitted a fraudulent Social Security card when he applied to work as an aircraft mechanic last September at Strom Aviation, one of the contractors that provides temporary labor to the TIMCO repair station at Piedmont-Triad International Airport.

U.S. District Judge N. Carlton Tilley Jr. sentenced Sapiandante to four months, the time he has already served since his arrest in March. Sapiandante is a native of the Philippines who has lived illegally in this country since June 1994, according to court transcripts.

He was the 11th of 13 former aviation-industry workers to plead guilty after they were indicted on criminal charges related to fraud or using false documents. The other two indictments were dismissed for lack of evidence.

The government will deport the two whose indictments were dismissed.

The other 14, TIMCO-affiliated workers taken into custody March 8, were not charged with criminal violations, but also faced deportation.

Of the 11 to plead guilty, at least four were sentenced to time served or, in one case, time served plus about six weeks more.

On release from jail, Sapiandante and the others who have been sentenced were turned over to immigration authorities for deportation.