Supervisor had employee shot to death after exposing underpaid workers, feds say
UPDATE: Juan Rangel-Rubio was sentenced to life in prison April 10 for his role in Eliud Montoya’s killing, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia. Pablo Rangel-Rubio was previously sentenced to 48 years and eight months in prison after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting the retaliation against a witness, prosecutors announced in a Nov. 17 news release.
The original story continues below:
The supervisor of a tree-trimming company had an employee shot to death after exposing how workers were having hundreds of thousands taken from their paychecks in Georgia, federal prosecutors say.
The employee reported his supervisor, Pablo Rangel-Rubio, and his brother Juan Rangel-Rubio, who also worked for the company, to federal labor officials after the pair took more than $3.5 million from workers, according to prosecutors.
Since Eliud Montoya “blew the whistle” on the brothers’ scheme — which involved hiring people living in the U.S. illegally and underpaying them — Pablo Rangel-Rubio arranged for his murder, prosecutors say.
Juan Rangel-Rubio fatally shot Montoya, a husband and father, near his home in Garden City on Aug. 19, 2017, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia.
In the case’s latest development, a jury found Juan-Rangel Rubio, 45, of Rincon, guilty on a number of charges in connection with how he killed Montoya, the attorney’s office announced in a Nov. 1 news release. Now he faces life in prison.
“This jury verdict brings resounding resolution to any doubts about the culpability of these defendants in this horrific conspiracy to kill a man who threatened their illegal and lucrative labor-trafficking scheme,” U.S. Attorney David H. Estes of the Southern District of Georgia, said in a statement.
The verdict comes after Pablo-Rangel Rubio, 53, of Rincon, previously pleaded guilty in the conspiracy to have Montoya killed, according to the attorney’s office.
After Montoya was found dead with gunshot wounds in his back, his mother, Avelina Alvares, told WJCL that her son “was the family’s rock.”
“He was the only supporter of the family. He sustained all of us. He supported all of us,” Alvares told the outlet in an interview in August 2017. “I didn’t work and I was able to stop working and so did his wife.”
Juan Rangel-Rubio’s attorney declined a request for comment from McClatchy News. McClatchy News also contacted Pablo Rangel-Rubio’s attorney for comment on Nov. 2 and was awaiting a response.
Both brothers, who have been living in the U.S. illegally, await sentencing, prosecutors say.
The case
Although Pablo Rangel-Rubio was living in the U.S. unlawfully, he became the supervisor for Wolf Tree, a contract company, and oversaw all its employees in the Savannah region, including Montoya, court documents state. He also was in charge of hiring workers.
With Juan Rangel-Rubio also working for the company, the brothers hired people living in the U.S. illegally, prosecutors say. Pablo Rangel-Rubio would give these workers new identities and social security numbers of other individuals, according to an indictment.
What’s more is that the brothers directed the paychecks of these workers into their own bank accounts and kept a portion of their earnings, the release says. Then, the workers would be underpaid in cash, the indictment states.
This is how the pair illegally received more than $3.5 million, according to prosecutors.
After Montoya witnessed his coworkers’ mistreatment, he submitted a written complaint to Wolf Tree, exposing Pablo Rangel-Rubio’s scheme on April 18, 2017, according to the indictment.
Months later, and two days before his death, Montoya reported Pablo Rangel-Rubio’s scheme to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Aug. 17, the indictment states. The EEOC enforces workplace laws nationwide.
When Pablo Rangel-Rubio learned of this, he plotted to have Montoya killed “to prevent him from providing testimony and producing records or documents in an official proceeding conducted by the EEOC,” according to the indictment.
As a result, the brothers surveilled Montoya to learn his schedule and typical whereabouts, the indictment says.
On Aug. 19, Juan Rangel-Rubio killed Montoya with the help of another man, Higinio Perez-Bravo, who acted as the getaway driver, prosecutors say.
Pablo Rangel-Rubio paid Perez-Bravo, 52, of Savannah, for his assistance in the murder, according to the release.
Perez-Bravo also awaits sentencing after previously pleading guilty in connection with his role in the case, prosecutors say.
His attorney, Bobby Phillips, told McClatchy News in a statement that his sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 16.
This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Supervisor had employee shot to death after exposing underpaid workers, feds say."
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