Fresno, CA – Two Fresno men have been sentenced to federal prison for operating a yearslong fraud scheme through their company, Agricultural Contracting Services Association, doing business as American Labor Alliance (ALA), the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California announced Thursday.
Marcus Asay, 69, who founded ALA and served as its chairman, was sentenced to five years in prison. Antonio Gastelum, 53, the company’s COO, CFO, and compliance officer, was sentenced to two years. In addition, ALA was fined $2.5 million, and both Asay and the company were ordered to pay $69,250 in restitution.
The convictions followed a five-week jury trial in June 2024. Charges included pension fraud, worker’s compensation fraud, false hardship exemption schemes, and money laundering.
Between 2011 and 2019, Asay and Gastelum misled over 3,000 individuals by selling them fraudulent retirement and worker’s compensation plans. Customers were told their retirement funds would be placed into a legitimate 401(k). Instead, over $620,000 was misappropriated for personal use—including travel, online companion services, and rent for Asay’s lakefront mansion.
To cover the losses, the pair funneled proceeds from a workers’ comp scam into retirement accounts to give the appearance of legitimate assets. Asay was further convicted of money laundering for using various bank accounts to hide the origin of the stolen funds.
The fraud extended to ALA’s false claims of national insurance backing for its plans and misleading customers not to cooperate with investigators. They also profited from a bogus hardship exemption scheme, charging clients for documents falsely claiming to exempt them from Affordable Care Act penalties.
Both Asay and Gastelum received enhanced sentences due to perjury committed during the trial.
