Poland native convicted of illegally importing labor

ATLANTA - Waldemar Przybylski, a native of Poland, has been convicted of illegally importing laborers from Eastern Europe to work in his floor cleaning business, authorities said Thursday. <br> <br> Przybylski, 51, a naturalized U.S. citizen living in Roswell, used subcontractors to act as go-betweens in the importing, hiring and paying of Czech and other Eastern European nationals, who would enter the United States on tourist visas. <br> <br> The U.S. Attorney&#39;s Office said they would work for Quality Maintenance of Georgia Inc., which provided cleaning services to businesses in Georgia and Alabama. Evidence showed that the imported laborers were worked more than 40 straight nights without a day off. Wages often were withheld for several weeks to motivate them to remain at the job or risk losing the money to the hiring subcontractor. <br> <br> From 1994 to 1997, Immigration and Naturalization Service agents arrested more than 50 of the illegal aliens in the Atlanta area alone. To gather evidence, undercover agents from the Czech Republic posed as workers looking to emigrate to the United States, and were smuggled into the country and placed with jobs. <br> <br> Przybylski is to be sentenced April 30 for conspiring to violate immigration laws.