Two men plead innocent to immigrant smuggling

CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE - Two Eastern European men arrested in April in Columbia have pleaded innocent to charges of harboring hundreds of illegal immigrants. <br> <br> Thirty-year-old Michal Morafka and 33-year-old Miroslav Vybihay entered the pleas at a hearing Thursday before federal Magistrate Bill Carter in Chattanooga, Tennessee. <br> <br> They are also charged with personally profiting from a janitorial business. <br> <br> Convictions on charges against each of the men would carry a maximum possible sentence of ten years in prison. Their trial is set August 12. <br> <br> The government is also seeking forfeiture of assets seized from the men, including bank accounts and computer equipment The total value is about $100,000. <br> <br> Morafka and Vybihal are accused of running a smuggling ring that placed illegal Czech, Russian and Ukranian immigrants in janitorial jobs. <br> <br> Prosecutors say the illegals worked in the Tennessee cities of Columbia, Chattanooga and Maryville; in Columbus, Georgia and in Branson, Missouri.

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