An El Cajon metal coating company that contracts with the federal government pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court Wednesday to a misdemeanor charge related to hiring undocumented workers.
As part of its plea agreement, San Diego Powder & Protective Coatings will forfeit $230,000, which federal prosecutors said the company gained from engaging in the practice, the San Diego U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. The court docket indicates the company entered into a deferred entry of judgment agreement,
The agreement follows an immigration raid at the company facility near Gillespie Field on March 27. Footage of the raid depicted heavily armed personnel from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations — many in ballistic vests and some wearing face coverings — detaining workers. The judge who signed the warrant later said the method federal agents used “was a surprise to the court.”
As part of its agreement, San Diego Powder & Protective Coatings admitted that while it frequently sent employees to work in secure sits such as military bases, it avoided sending undocumented workers to such sites, where they would be subject to further screening, federal prosecutors said in a news release.
The company also admitted its warehouse workers often had access to military equipment such as components for U.S. Navy submarines or aquatic vehicles.
According to federal prosecutors, the company admitted that operations manager John Washburn and others recruited undocumented immigrants not authorized to work in the United States.
Washburn pleaded guilty in June to engaging in a pattern or practice of hiring undocumented migrants without authorization to work in the U.S. He was sentenced to one year of unsupervised release and ordered to perform 50 hours of community service. Court documents indicate he has complied with all terms of his probation, and the court agreed earlier this month to end it.
Hiring manager Karli Buxton pleaded guilty Wednesday to the same charge and was immediately sentenced to two years of unsupervised probation, the federal court docket shows. Her attorney declined to comment on the case.
According to the news release from federal prosecutors, Buxton had been responsible since 2023 for verifying that new employees were eligible to work in the United States. Officials said she admitted she was aware certain employees had handed over false work-authorization documents but still hired them.
Defense attorney Jeremy Warren, who represented San Diego Powder & Protective Coatings in the case, said Wednesday that once the company was made aware of the problem, it immediately took corrective action.
Warren also provided a statement from the company, which said: “We are a small family-owned business. We are proud of the work we do and the hundreds of high-skilled jobs we have provided in the community over the years.
“We have corrected the mistakes we made in not properly vetting some of our employees, and look forward to continuing to provide high-quality work in the community, and with our government and business partners,” the statement reads.
The plea deal also calls for the company to use the federal E-Verify system to check worker eligibility for the next two years and to participate in a program that audits employment eligibility verification forms commonly known as I-9s.