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GREENSBORO -- The investigation at TIMCO marks the second time in as many years a
negative spotlight is shining on a Florida contractor that allegedly put illegal immigrants into
the aircraft-maintenance plant in western Greensboro.
The labor contractor, Structural Modification and Repair Technicians or S.M.A.R.T., also
figured in the January 2003 crash at Charlotte of US Airways Express Flight 5481, which killed
all 21 aboard.
A post-crash inquiry by the National Transportation Safety Board partly attributed the fatal
accident to a S.M.A.R.T. mechanic-in-training who improperly adjusted controls.
In the TIMCO investigation, one of S.M.A.R.T.'s officials, Jorge Ruiz-Alonso, also known as
Jorge Ruiz or George Ruiz, is charged with giving fake documents to an illegal immigrant in
October 2000 so the foreigner could work in the TIMCO facility as a S.M.A.R.T. employee.
Five of the 24 people arrested March 8 at TIMCO on immigration charges, including Ruiz-
Alonso, were S.M.A.R.T. workers, said Brian Peterson, vice president of the Edgewater, Fla.,
company.
The arrests two weeks ago were part of the federal government's "Operation Tarmac," an effort
to get illegal immigrants out of such security-sensitive settings as airports, nuclear power plants
and other utilities.
Peterson said the two incidents in North Carolina since 2003 are not indicative of S.M.A.R.T.'s
general character nor its skill in providing temporary aviation workers.
"We've been in business for over 15 years and have provided probably a million man-hours (of
maintenance) without an incident," Peterson said.
But TIMCO has severed its seven-year relationship with the company because of the criminal
allegations involving Ruiz-Alonso, said Dave Latimer, a TIMCO vice president.
"We just can't have that in our business," Latimer said, adding that it would take many reforms
for S.M.A.R.T. to be reinstated.
"They're certainly out for now," Latimer said, noting the Florida company was discharged last
week when allegations emerged against Ruiz-Alonso. "Never say never, but I would not see it
(reinstatement) happening any time soon."
Another six of the 24 alleged illegal immigrants were on TIMCO's own payroll as permanent
workers.
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