Sugar plant ‘Samaritans’ shaky Two men who claimed to want to help injured Hispanic workers had no credentials BY ALDO NAHED 912-652-0449 + sdo.nahed@savonnahnow.om A couple of days after the Feb, 7 explo sion that killed 12 workers atthe Imperial ‘Sugar Refinery, Maria Bowden reached ont to injured Hispanie workers in the Port Wentworth community, “These people needed help, and I didnt knowhow to got them help,” Bowlen said. Soon afte, she was approached by two —who identified themselves asinternational elegates with the Council of Humen Rights, ‘Which they said was based in Mexico City ‘They met at a Waffle House where they asked Bowden to introduce them to injuree “Hispanie workers Bowden, who works in insurance, said she ‘didnt get a good feeling from the men. "They didnt want to show me their IDs at first” Bowden said. “The guy was wearing ey finaly showed me Hinojosa and Gonzalez also appronched Pastor Samuel Rodriguez of Fist Hispanic Baptist Church. Rodriguez said he spent about 15 minutes with the two casually ‘dressed mien. “They told me they were human rights ‘workers on behalf of the Mexiean people,” Rodriguez said. “They told me they were going to help through an attorney in "Texas. ‘SEE SHAKY, BACK PAGE ON THE WEB Ox. previous overage, View photos and hear audio related tothe Imperial Sugar Co. help the victims of the explosion oF sign st book of men — Jose Hinojosa and Javier Gonzalez Shaky FROM PAGE 1A Rodriguez said he didn’t get a good feeling: “I thought that the things they showed me weren't very professional.” John Newton, editor of Span- ish language newspaper La Voz Latina, encountered Hinojosa and Gonzalez when they came tohis office totalk about injured Hispanic workers. Newton said the men left their business card — a hastily printed card on a legal-sized sheet of paper. He, too, said he doubted the men’s authenticity after he saw their plain-paper business cards and was told their organization didn't have a Web site. Hinojosa said in a telephone interview from Dallas that he's a secretary of international relations for human rights out _ of Mexico. “When I hear of an accident, I notify Mexico, especially if I know there were Hispanics involved,” Hinojosa said. When calls were made to the number Gonzalez had on his business card, a woman's voice was on the number's voice mail and Gonzalez didn'treturn mes- sages left there. The men’s credentials cannot be verified. Ricardo Alday, spokesman for the Mexican Embassy in Wash- ington, D.C. said Wednesday that Hinojosa is “not a repre- sentative of the government as he claims to be.” “Hes impersonating himself, He doesn't work for any human rights organizations linked to the government. Absolutely not.” Alday said he also checked with the Mexican Consulate in Atlanta, where officials said they don't know Hinojosa. Hinojosa provided the Savannah Morning News with his Yahoo! e-mail account as a contact. “If you are working for the government, you usually have a government agency e-mail,” Alday said. “It sounds fishy.” Hinojosa also could not pro- vide a Web site address for his organization. Alday said this is highly unlikely for a government offi- cial. Efforts by the Savannah Morning News tolocate a Coun- cil of Human Rights in Mexico City were unsuccessful. Looking for injured workers Once in Port Wentworth, Hinojosa said, he and Gonzalez searched for Hispanic workers injured in the blast. ‘They were able to reach seven different families in Savannah and 12 different families in Claxton, he said. “They have rights here, and we are here to help in any way we could,” Hinojosa said. “Ih don’t need to be afraid. They can seek legal help without fear ofimmigration” Hinojosa said his background isin law and he’s worked with law firms for the past 16 years as a certified translator and as an ey investigator throughout Texas and Florida. He emphasized that he was in the Savannah area as a representative of the Mexican government. “Tnever identified myself'as an investigator, he said, Buthe said he did refer work- ersto Savannah attorney James Carter. Carter said he was consulted by Hispanic workers referred by Hinojosa, but they had minor injuries. Carter said he's not rep- resenting any workers injured in the sugar refinery blast. “My position is that as long as the company is paying workers’ compensation, they don’t need legal representation,” Carter said. Carter said he believed Hino- josa was legitimate. “He had credentials,” Carter said. “As far as his exact con- nection with a human rights group, I'm not sure.” Texas attorneys sign up injured workers through ministers In an unrelated instance, Pastor Rodriguez said he’s referred about seven injured Hispanic workers to Texas- based attorney Anthony Con- stant on the advice of the Rev. Bennie Mitchell. Rodriguez has been helping the Red Cross with translations for more than 20 families. Constant represented the Earl T. Shinhoster family of Savannah in a case against Ford Motor Co. and Bridge- stone-Firestone tires after Shinhoster died in an acci- dent in Macon County in June 2000. The terms of a 2003 settlement are confidential. Rodriguez said Mitchell told him Constant was “helping the African-Americans injured in the blast.” “They asked us to join with them to gain more power,” Rodriguez said. “I thought this was a good idea.” Rodriguez said he’s not involved anymore. Mitchell said he does not recall how many injured work- ers he referred. In a faxed flier, Constant says he’s representing Law- rence Manker Jr., “who received a devastating blow from the explosion at the Imperial Sugar Refinery.” Manker is'listed in critical condition at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta. Mitchell said he recom- mended workers “to the lawyer we know and trust.” When asked if he was get- ting referral fees, Mitchell said hewas not and was insulted by the question, “You know better than to ask me that,” Mitchell said. “No one is getting anything. That is downright ugly.” Ken Chastain, a representa- tive of Constant, refused to be interviewed. “Rev. Mitchell told me how you insulted him, and I don’t want to speak to you, either.” Investigation into misrepresentation continues The Georgia Bar Association is investigating if any lawyers have improperly solicited vie- tims of the explosion or their families. “{can tell you that generally we are looking at lawyers’ con- duct regarding the explosion,” said William P. Smith III, president of the bar associa~ tion. “As far as the identity of the lawyers, Ican’t confirm nor deny any.” Smith said if lawyers are found to have violated the state bar rules, they may face charges of public reprimands to disbarment. “A lawyer in Texas can talk to a Georgia resident,” Smith said. “But they can’t come to Georgia and represent them or give them advice, not unless they are authorized by the Supreme Court of Georgia.”