Fourth person pleads guilty in visa fraud case

A fourth person connected to a West Chester staffing company has pleaded guilty in a scheme to scam the visa system to bring hundreds of seasonal workers into the United States for clients.

Emily V. Ford, 29, of West Chester, former office manager of International Personnel Resources, pleaded guilty yesterday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Brenner said.

The company applied for temporary work visas under phony names culled from a Mexican phone book, and its employees used the stockpiled documents to place workers from Mexico and Central America in landscaping and other jobs, authorities said. At times, the company sent undocumented workers home, supplied them with visas, and coached them to tell immigration officials that they had never been in the country illegally, prosecutors said.

Company owner and president Michael T. Glah, 48, and his wife, vice president Theresa M. Klish, 50, both of West Chester, and office manager Mary H. Gillin, 60, of Downingtown, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Philadelphia to charges in the 11-count information.
- AP