David Wayne Decker, 51, and his 44-year-old wife Nancy are accused of sponsoring 417 workers from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, for their business from 2003-06, charging them from $300-$1,000 to participate and “renting” them to other labor strapped employers. The government has also petitioned to recover $500,000 it says the Deckers illegally procured.

“David and Nancy are fine people—the mom and pop owners of a small business,” said their attorney Dick DeGuerin, who has represented Branch Davidian leader David Koresh and other well-known defendants. “They have owned a landscaping business for years and own a golf course they have put up for sale. The workers had a big job with Lajitas Resort & Golf Club (on the U.S.-Mexico border) and worked there. David is not a policeman. He didn’t have control over these folks and once the job was over, he couldn’t recapture them.?EUR??,,????'??

The indictment says the couple requested and received from 24-98 workers six times between February 2003 and March 2006 through the Citizenship & Immigration Services office of the Department of Homeland Security.

The indictment alleges that under the guise of Decker Management Group and Decker Golf Pro, the couple “endeavored to make money by demanding improper payments from Mexican nationals seeking to work in the U.S.

“They illegally ‘rented’ the nationals they sponsored to other businesses that had failed to submit timely H2-B paperwork to USCIS and included in their businesses’ applications the names of workers who were actually going to work for other employers,” it said.

The Decker?EUR??,,????'???s trial is expected to begin in May or June 2008. If convicted, the Deckers could face up to 60 years each in federal prison.

Source: Midland Reporter-Telegram