A former assistant general manager at IFCO Systems North America in Guilderland, N.Y., pleaded guilty today to knowingly hiring illegal aliens, the latest supervisor to admit his role in a series of federal immigration violations at the international wood pallet recycling company.

Craig Losurdo, 35, of Arlington, Texas, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful employment of illegal aliens, a misdemeanor, before U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence E. Kahn.

Losurdo faces up to six months in prison and a fine of up to $3,000 for each illegal alien he hired or employed, according to Glenn T. Suddaby, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York.

He will be sentenced July 11.

The guilty plea was pursuant to Losurdo agreeing to cooperate with the ongoing investigation, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Tina Sciocchetti.

Five other current and former IFCO managers pleaded guilty Feb. 27 to felony and misdemeanor charges that arose from the investigation. Charges are still pending against two other IFCO managers.

Federal and state authorities raided more than 40 IFCO plants and related locations nationwide on April 19, 2006, including the company's headquarters in Houston. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained nearly 1,200 illegal aliens at the plants.

Seven managers were arrested at the time of the raid; Losurdo's arrest occurred at a later date, Sciocchetti said.

The investigation targeted supervisors who knowingly hired illegal aliens. For instance, during the time Losurdo worked at the Guilderland plant, from October 2004 to June 2005, he admitted in court he knowingly accepted fraudulent documents to hire at least 13 Hispanic illegal aliens. Several times he hired people who had no valid identification.

Among his crimes, Losurdo admitted to filling out federal employment verification forms for workers, falsely attesting they were authorized to work in the U.S.; working with other managers to manipulate paperwork; signing leases to house the workers and, with other plant managers, provide them with transportation to work; and writing a $500 company check to help one pallet worker get his father across the border from Mexico to work at the Guilderland plant.

In carrying out these and other acts, Losurdo said he was trained to do so by supervisors. Losurdo quit his job in June 2005 because he objected to the company's practices.

IFCO Systems North America is a division of IFCO Systems N.P. in Amsterdam, the Netherland