Sun Drywall defendants allowed trips to Mexico, Hawaii while awaiting trial

TUCSON - Defendants in the case of Sierra Vista drywall contractor accused of conspiring to hire and harbor illegal workers have been allowed to travel to Mexico and Hawaii as they await trial, court records show.

Last week, Federal Magistrate Jennifer Guerin granted a request allowing Joaquin J. Neave to travel to the Mexican beach resort of San Carlos, Sonora, over the upcoming weekend.

Neave's attorney Sean Chapman made the request in a June 19 motion in which he stated that neither the U.S. Attorney's Office nor the Pretrial Services Office at U.S. District Court in Tucson objected to the trip.

"The defendant and his wife have a home in San Carlos and would like to go there," wrote Chapman, who, in an unrelated case, is representing Nicholas Corbett, a U.S. Border Patrol agent who was charged by the Cochise County Attorney in April with murdering an illegal immigrant near Naco.

Neave, a manager at Sun Drywall and Stucco Inc., is accused of conspiring to hire and harbor illegal Mexican workers at the Sierra Vista firm.

According to his conditions of release, Neave may not leave the state without a judge's approval.

Last month, Guerin granted permission for Neave's co-defendant and Sun Drywall president Ivan Hardt to travel to Hawaii for 10 days. Unlike Chapman, defense attorney Michael Piccaretta did not offer the judge a reason for Hardt's June 2-12 trip.

Hardt, like Neave, is facing one count of harboring illegal aliens for profit and one count of knowingly hiring illegal aliens. He was released from custody following his March arrest after agreeing to post a $20,000 bond and to limit his travel to within Arizona.

Hardt was also allowed to go to New Mexico and Chicago as long as he notified court officials in advance. Other travel had to be approved by a judge.

Court records further show that Guerin gave a third co-defendant, Jose Gutierrez-Tapia, permission to travel to the Sonoran port city of Guaymas from May 11 to 20.

The trip was approved following a motion filed May 8 by defense attorney Jesus Romo-Vejar.

Last November, Romo-Vejar represented a Douglas hunting party in a civil suit in which a Cochise County Superior Court jury awarded the hunters nearly $100,000 in damages from local rancher Roger Barnett.

Neave, Hardt, Gutierrez-Tapia and five other co-defendants were arrested March 9 after more than 200 federal agents supported by local police and a Blackhawk helicopter fanned out across Sierra Vista, raiding Sun Drywall's offices as well as several construction sites and local residences.