Chesco man guilty of fraudulently obtaining work visas for illegal immigrants found dead

A Chester County businessman awaiting sentencing on federal charges of fraudulently obtaining hundreds of temporary-worker visas for undocumented workers was found dead in his home Monday.

A spokesman for the Chester County Coroner's Office said a ruling on Michael Glah's manner of death was pending a toxicology report due back next week.

Glah, 48, of Westtown, owned International Personnel Resources. He and his wife, Theresa Klish, 50, company vice president; and office managers Emily V. Ford, 29, and Mary Gillin, 60, were charged in December with visa fraud and conspiracy to commit visa fraud.

Robert J. Donatoni, who has represented Glah since the investigation began in November 2008, said he spoke to his client last week.

"Michael was under an intense and incredible amount of pressure, as anyone in that type of situation would be," Donatoni said of the scheduled sentencing.

Glah was also charged with transporting undocumented workers into the United States and immigration fraud.

He and the other defendants pleaded guilty.

In May, Gillin was sentenced to three years of probation, including four months of house arrest, and fined $50,000. In June, Ford and Klish were sentenced to five years of probation. Ford was fined $20,000 and Klish $2,000.

Glah was found dead about two weeks after prosecutors filed a motion asking that his sentence be increased from the federal minimum of 60 months. He was due in court Aug. 26 for sentencing.

On Wednesday, because of Glah's death, prosecutors filed a motion in federal court to dismiss the case against him. Patricia Hartman, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Attorney's Office, declined to comment.

Between 2003 and 2008, the group put names randomly chosen from a Mexican telephone book on falsified U.S. visa applications. The forged documents were then submitted to the U.S. Department of Labor and the undocumented workers were told to lie to U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services in order to obtain work permits.

Taking advantage of a provision in the law that allows substitutions, Glah's company distributed the visas to otherwise ineligible workers.

The scheme provided local landscaping companies, construction firms, country clubs, and other clients with a pool of seasonal workers.