Vicki Ikeogu

vikeogu@stcloudtimes.com

MINNEAPOLIS — A Foley-area produce farmer has pleaded guilty to receiving kickbacks from foreign workers employed at his farm.

John Svihel of Svihel Vegetable Farm Inc., 12004 Duelm Road NE, has acknowledged that he had received a total of $198,697 in illegal payments from about a dozen employees working under H-2A visas between 2011 and 2013.

According to the complaint, Svihel had gone through Wilian Cabrera and Sandra Bart — his two co-defendants — to secure workers from the Dominican Republic to help during the farm's growing season as early as 2010. According to court documents, the investigation had found that the three were illegally receiving kickbacks for every hour each Dominican employee worked at Svihel Farm and for the cost of their flights to and from the U.S.

The H-2A visa program prohibits these types of fees.

Svihel's farm was raided in May 2015 as part of an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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Svihel's attorney, Susan Gaertner, said Svihel had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud in foreign labor contracting on Thursday.

The remaining 18 charges brought against him are being dropped.

"The main point is that Mr. Svihel is taking responsibility for something he regrets doing," Gaertner said.

Gaertner said Svihel has been cooperating with the government to assist in the prosecution of Cabrera and Bart.

As part of the plea agreement, Svihel has agreed to pay back the workers affected by the kickbacks. He also is required to pay $374,668 in unpaid overtime wages for H-2A workers and almost $200,000 in unpaid wages for J-1 visa workers. He has agreed to establish a nearly $773,000 escrow trust fund to cover restitution and other payments to former employees.

Gaertner said even though Svihel has pleaded guilty to this charge, he will be allowed to continue to employ foreign workers with H-2A visas.

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"The government is confident he has been following the law since the investigation began," Gaertner said. "And they have permitted him to employ legal workers from countries like Mexico and the Dominican Republic."

Gaertner said Svihel currently has workers with H-2A visas employed for the 2016 growing season.

Follow Vicki Ikeogu on Twitter @VickiSCTimes or on Facebook at facebook.com/sctimesvicki. Call her at 259-3662.

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