NEW ORLEANS COMPANY SENTENCED FOR MAKING FALSE STATEMENTS TO THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Published 3:23 pm Thursday, December 16, 2021

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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – United States Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that B XPRESS-ELYSIAN FIELDS, LLC, was sentenced today for making false statements in connection with a worksite employment investigation, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001(a)(2).

United States District Court Judge Martin L.C. Feldman ordered B-XPRESS to pay $50,000 in restitution as well as the forfeiture of $29,068.

In November 2015, Homeland Security Investigations received information that an undocumented worker was possibly being employed at B-XPRESS. A worksite enforcement investigation was then initiated by the United States Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General.

In response to a Form I-9 audit requesting worker documentation from Homeland Security Investigations agents, B-XPRESS submitted inaccurate records that failed to mention illegal workers employed at the business. On August 11, 2016, federal agents arrived at B-XPRESS and identified themselves to the corporate representative.  On behalf of B-XPRESS, the representative provided false statements to the agents of the United States Department of Labor. B-XPRESS falsely indicated that it did not utilize a timekeeping system to record the hours that employees actually worked, that some workers were classified as independent contractors, and that workers did not work more than 30 hours per week. The investigation determined that these statements were false.

U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the United States Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General and Homeland Security Investigations in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Jon Maestri is in charge of the prosecution.