SOMIS : Foreman Pleads Guilty in Labor Case

A foreman at a Ventura County flower ranch where Mexican workers were allegedly enslaved during the 1980s pled guilty Monday to four labor and immigration charges, becoming the first of 11 defendants to enter pleas in the case.

David Pinzon, 25, who still works at the Somis and Moorpark ranches of Edwin M. Ives, faces up to 11 1/2 years in prison after entering his pleas before U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall in Los Angeles.

“One down and 10 to go,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. Carol L. Gillam after the plea. Plea bargains have been worked out with all defendants, and the 11 are expected to plead guilty to 50 criminal counts, including 26 felonies, she said.

Ives and his farming corporation also were scheduled to enter guilty pleas Monday, but last-minute snags in settling related civil lawsuits as part of the settlement delayed Ives’ appearance, Gillam said.

Ives, 55, of Los Angeles, has agreed to plead guilty to corporate racketeering and to pay about $1.5 million in back wages to 300 former workers, the stiffest fine ever in a U.S. immigration case, Gillam said.

Together, Ives and company will plead guilty to 16 criminal counts, including eight felonies. Ives faces up to 18 years in prison.

During his plea, Pinzon acknowledged that he had harbored illegal immigrants and conspired to illegally transport them while working for Ives. He also admitted not paying minimum wages to workers and running a company store from which workers were forced to buy food and sundries, Gillam said.