In Pennsylvania, the owner of a temporary staffing agency, Andy Ha, pleaded guilty in federal court on February 24 to charges of harboring illegal immigrants for economic gain and evading over $3 million in employment taxes.
According to the plea agreement, the 28-year-old Ha operated “Prosperity Services, Inc.” from September 2022 to April 2024, providing temporary workers to businesses in the town of Charleroi, Pennsylvania. He was accused of housing more than 25 foreign workers without legal status in a former hotel and using a van to transport them to and from work sites.
Additionally, Ha submitted false electronic reports to tax authorities, listing only employees with legal work status, resulting in quarterly employment tax filings reflecting only 10% of the company’s actual workforce. For example, in the first quarter of 2023, he reported having 20 workers and paying approximately $174,000 in wages when the company actually had at least 200 workers with total wages exceeding $5 million.
Prosecutors alleged that he knowingly signed and submitted false reports, causing at least $3.1 million in tax losses. Earlier this year, the FBI seized nearly $1 million in cash from Ha’s Prosperity Services company.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti stated, “The defendant harbored and employed illegal workers, violating federal law. Additionally, he deliberately evaded tax responsibilities, resulting in the government losing millions of dollars. We will continue to work with law enforcement to hold individuals accountable for such misconduct.”
Edward V. Owens, Special Agent in Charge of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Philadelphia office, said, “Ha Ha exploited the immigrant community for profit, and we will ensure that such illegal activities are legally sanctioned.”
Ha was indicted on January 28 and pleaded guilty in less than a month. Judge Cathy Bissoon is scheduled to sentence him on July 22. Under federal law, the maximum sentence for tax fraud is five years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the crime’s proceeds, or both. Harboring illegal immigrants carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or double the crime’s proceeds, or both.
Moreover, the FBI began investigating Prosperity Services last October because the company subcontracted immigrant workers for a local Fourth Street Foods company. The focus of the investigation was whether Prosperity Services paid undocumented immigrants in cash and potentially trafficked and housed them for employment.
This investigation occurred as Charleroi, Pennsylvania, became a hotspot for presidential campaigning, with Trump claiming that Haitian immigrants were “invading” the area. Trump highlighted the staggering statistic of a 2000% increase in the town’s immigrant population before the presidential election, introducing the phrase “Eyes on Charleroi.”
Reports indicate that Fourth Street Foods employed about 700 workers from over 40 countries through Prosperity Services, emphasizing that they only hired immigrants with proper permits. However, it is estimated that 90% of the factory workers are Haitian immigrants, leading some local residents to believe that immigrants are taking away jobs from American workers.
Social media platforms further fueled the controversy, with videos on TikTok showing numerous Haitian immigrants being shuttled to and from the food factory in vans, accusing the government of allowing 2000 Haitian immigrants to flood the small town with a population of 4000. These events have intensified discussions on the impact of U.S. immigration policies on the local labor market.