MIAMI — Martinez Builders Supply, LLC, doing business as East Coast Truss, a Florida limited liability company, pleaded guilty in federal court Oct. 28 in Fort Pierce to conspiring to harbor aliens by means of employment in a case investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami’s Fort Pierce field office and the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Miami field office.
On Aug. 29, Kelly Yanira Del Valle, a former employee of East Coast Truss, also pleaded guilty to conspiring to harbor aliens by means of employment, as well as filing false tax returns and aiding the filing of false tax returns. As part of its guilty pleas, East Coast Truss agreed to a forfeiture judgment in the amount $450,000. Del Valle agreed to a forfeiture judgment in the amount $100,000 and to pay restitution to the IRS in the amount of $100,146.
HSI Miami Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Markenzy Lapointe and Special Agent in Charge Matthew D. Line of the IRS-CI Miami field office made the announcement.
HSI Fort Pierce and the IRS-CI Miami field office investigated the case. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Porter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Klco is handling asset forfeiture.
As part of the plea documents filed with the court, East Coast Truss and Del Valle admitted that several East Coast Truss officers and employees, including Del Valle, conspired to harbor noncitizens by means of employment from June 1, 2018, through Aug. 6, 2021. Specifically, in June 2018, Del Valle, who was employed by East Coast Truss at the time, the president and managing member of East Coast Truss, and an officer manager at East Coast Truss met at the business and agreed to “transfer” certain noncitizens who were not authorized to work in the United States but were employed by the company to Hollys Services, a company set up by Del Valle, so that they would no longer appear on East Coast Truss’ payroll. East Coast Truss agreed to pay Del Valle a fee for each noncitizen on Hollys Services’ payroll who worked at East Coast Truss. Del Valle agreed to recruit and hire additional noncitizens who were not authorized to work in the United States to work for East Coast Truss under the guise of Hollys Services and later Quality Control.
Hollys Services and Quality Control were formed by Del Valle for the express purpose of concealing, harboring and shielding noncitizens who worked at East Coast Truss from detection by law enforcement. These actions were in response to an Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 audit, a mechanism used to verify the identity and legal authorization to work of all paid employees in the United States, conducted by HSI in May 2018, that identified dozens of East Coast Truss employees who were noncitizens and not authorized to work in the United States.
Specifically, on or about June 18, 2018, several of the employees HSI identified during its Form I-9 audit were transferred from East Coast Truss’ payroll yet continued to work for the company while purportedly being employed and paid by Hollys Services and later Quality Control.
During the conspiracy, East Coast Truss, through its agents acting within the scope of their employment, transferred over $1.15 million to a bank account set up by Del Valle in the name of Hollys Services, and $2.2 million to a bank account Del Valle set up in the name of Quality Control. Some of the transferred funds were earmarked for the express purpose of paying the noncitizens who worked at East Coast Truss.
Law enforcement executed a search warrant at East Coast Truss’ headquarters in Saint Lucie County, Florida, and discovered 28 of the 58 employees present to be noncitizens who were not authorized to work in the United States.
U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon will sentence East Coast Truss and Del Valle in Fort Pierce on a date to be determined. Del Valle faces a possible maximum sentence of 16 years in federal prison. East Coast Truss faces up to five years of probation and a maximum fine of $500,000 or twice the gross loss or twice the gross gain caused by the offense, whichever is greater.
Cannon will determine East Coast Truss and Del Valle’s sentence after considering the U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
You may find related press releases and updates on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case numbers 24-cr-14019 and 24-cr-14035.