Executive Sentenced For Helping Factory Hire Undocumented Workers

ST. CHARLES, IL — A former Chicago staffing company executive must spend two years on probation and pay a $15,000 fine after admitting he helped a Streamwood factory hire more than a dozen undocumented workers.

Sergio Badani, 51, of St. Charles, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court after he previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit alien harboring for purposes of commercial advantage, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney John Lausch’s office.

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Badani used worked his position as vice president of operations for a large Chicago staffing company to help the KSO MetalFab factory rehire 17 undocumented workers who were fired after being identified by law enforcement, according to federal prosecutors.

Factory operators worked with Badani to falsify workers' identification documents so they could rehire them, the release states.

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Badani helped the factory operators hide the workers’ identities from the government while his company “continued to collect more than $1 million in fees” from the owners, federal prosecutors said. Badani also profited from the illegal scheme through bonuses, the release states.

Four factory operators — Dora, Kenneth, Kari and Keith Kuzelka — were arrested in October 2019. Each were charged with one count of knowingly harboring an illegal alien and one count of knowingly engaging in a pattern or practice of hiring illegal aliens, according to federal court records.

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All four pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

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