Dora Kuzelka (Itasca Bank photo)

The operators of a suburban manufacturing company have been charged with knowingly hiring and harboring undocumented workers.

Dora Kuzelka, 81, Kari Kuzelka, 56, and Keith Kuzelka, 58, all of Elgin, and Kenneth Kuzelka, 62, of Chicago, are charged with knowingly harboring an illegal alien and knowingly engaging in a pattern or practice of hiring illegal aliens.

The Kuzelkas knowingly hired at least 18 undocumented workers at KSO MetalFab Inc., a sheet metal fabrication company in Streamwood, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Keith Kuzelka left the company last year, while the three other Kuzelkas continue to serve in executive management positions, the complaint states.

Dora Kuzelka, Kenneth Kuzelka and Kari Kuzelka were arrested Friday morning (Oct. 18), while Keith Kuzelka surrendered to authorities Friday afternoon. All four defendants made initial appearances in federal court in Chicago on Friday afternoon and were ordered released on recognizance bonds.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheila Finnegan scheduled status hearings for Oct. 29.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois and the Chicago office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation. The U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Social Security Administration provided assistance.

According to the complaint, HSI’s Chicago office conducted a civil audit of KSO MetalFab in 2017 and determined that 36 of the company’s 67 employees were suspected of using fraudulent work authorization documents to verify their eligibility for employment.

Keith Kuzelka (Mayo Clinic photo)

HSI served the company with a written notice of the suspected violations; and the company responded by attesting that it had terminated all 36 of the identified employees. KSO MetalFab later rehired at least 18 of the previously terminated workers by utilizing a staffing agency, the complaint states.

KSO MetalFab instructed the workers to go to the staffing agency so that they could return to the company after the audit, the charges allege. Many of the workers used the same names that they previously used before the audit, the complaint states.

Knowingly harboring an illegal alien carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, while knowingly engaging in a pattern or practice of hiring illegal aliens is punishable by up to six months in prison.