One of several suspects connected to a cleaning company hired by Perdue in Accomac pleaded guilty this week in U.S. District Court in Norfolk to two criminal charges involving a scheme to supply undocumented workers, including young teenagers, with fake identification so they could work at the local plant.
The scheme came to light after a 14-year-old boy from Guatemala, who lived near the plant, was severely injured several years ago while cleaning a drumstick packing line conveyor belt. Federal law prohibits companies from employing anyone under 18 in meat processing plants due to hazardous conditions. Authorities alleged that Fayette Janitorial Service LLC, also known as Fayette Industrial, employed 15 underage workers at the Accomac facility.
John Leonard Mitchum, a former division manager for Fayette who primarily worked at the company’s Tennessee headquarters from March 2018 through September 2024, admitted to conspiring to defraud the United States. That charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. He also pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison to be served consecutively with any other sentence…