BANGOR (AP) – A Harrington man whose wife is being held on immigration charges has been indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiring to hire illegal aliens.

Juan Centeno Perez, 46, is charged with conspiring between January 2005 and June 2006 to hire at least 10 illegal aliens to work at a Washington County sea cucumber processing plant.

The Bangor Daily News said Perez is believed to have fled the area. He was indicted on Sept. 19, but documents were not made public until Monday, the newspaper reported.

Perez is charged with conspiring to provide illegal workers as a labor contractor to work at the sea cucumber plant in Lubec operated by ISF Trading Co. Perez allegedly falsely represented the workers to be legally employable.

according to the indictment.

Doris Amanda Ayala Escalante pleaded not guilty in July to charges of visa fraud and aggravated identity theft after being indicted by a federal grand jury.