3 owners of Kansas business sentenced to a year in federal prison for harboring illegal aliens

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Three owners of a Kansas framing company were each sentenced to more than a year in prison in federal court Wednesday for harboring undocumented workers.

This sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Each of the following three defendants had previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens for commercial advantage at Advantage Framing Systems Inc., its Spring Hill, Kan., business. All three defendants were sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison: James Humbert, 45, business owner, Kimberly Humbert, 47, wife of James and co-owner, and Charles Stevens II, 51, brother of Kim and part-owner.

In their pleas, each admitted their company provided local builders and contractors with engineered floor, pre-built wall panel and roof truss systems, along with providing illegal aliens as on-site framing labor.

In March 2012, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Internal Revenue Service received information that the company owners hired foreign citizens who were not lawfully present in the United States.

Each defendant also admitted they paid undocumented workers who were members of framing crews through a method requiring crew leaders to obtain insurance. The company paid the crew leaders, who were responsible for paying the undocumented workers on their crews.

It is estimated that the company paid $4.6 million to framing crews while the defendants were aware that some of the crew leaders and their crew members were not lawfully present in the United States.