In a move to curb farmworker abuse in Florida, the state says a North Florida labor contractor should lose his license and pay fines for violating the rights of workers.

  BY RONNIE GREENE

  The state plans to revoke the license of a North Florida farm labor boss accused of cheating farmhands of pay, the latest sign investigators are stepping up sanctions against Florida's notorious farm contractors, authorities said Wednesday.

  The state Department of Business and Professional Regulation said Hastings contractor Ronald ''Too Tall'' Jones committed three violations involving payment of worker wages and taxes. Beyond revoking his license, the state intends to fine Jones $2,500.

  The state investigated Jones after a Herald series in August, Fields of Despair, quoted several laborers saying he cheated them of pay, forced them to pay 100 percent interest on loans and housed them in slum complexes.

  The series put the allegations in a broader context, detailing how Florida leads the nation in the number of scofflaw farm labor contractors, the middlemen hired by growers to
  provide laborers to harvest crops.

  In December, 12 laborers filed a lawsuit against Jones and the potato farmer who hired him, alleging they suffered poverty pay, illegal loans, slum housing and two instances of physical abuse by Jones. In court papers, Jones ''emphatically'' denies the allegations. The farmer, Thomas R. Lee of Bulls-Hit Ranch & Farm, also said the allegations are untrue and is seeking to have the case dismissed.

  Last month, investigators for the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which oversees farm labor contractors in Florida, conducted a payroll audit of Jones' operation. They did so as part of a broader sweep of groves in the North Florida counties of Flagler, St. Johns, Putnam and Volusia.

  The state said Jones failed to:

  • Pay wages when due.

  • Provide wage statements as required.

  • Pay past due Unemployment Compensation taxes.

  Mark Whitten, director of professions and regulation for the state department, said those are among the ''most egregious'' types of violations the office encounters. The
  department revokes licenses in ''extreme'' cases of abuse, it said.

  ''This is their livelihood,'' Whitten said of the laborers. ``They have families they are supporting. It's important to us that we can revoke the contractor's license and make the farmworker whole.''

  Jones, who has declined Herald requests for an interview since last year, could not be reached for comment Wednesday. His attorney in the civil case, Ronald E. Clark of Palatka, did not respond to two calls Wednesday; his office said he was in court.

  Once Jones is officially notified of the department's intention, he has 21 days to appeal. If he doesn't challenge the order by then, his license is automatically revoked,
  Whitten said, and he will no longer be permitted to hire workers for farm labor.

  Beyond the $2,500 fine, the state intends to collect back wages for the eight workers involved in the case, Whitten said.

  The state will alert the U.S. Department of Labor, which also certifies labor contractors like Jones, of its actions.

  The sweep of North Florida groves last month was the department's 22nd in less than a year, and it uncovered 15 violations at three groves. The sweeps are meant to root out abuses of Florida's Farm and Child Labor Laws. ''We will continue to do these proactive activities,'' Whitten said.

  The sweeps come as criminal investigators conduct their own examination of farmworker abuse. In recent years, 12 Florida farm contractors, smugglers and henchmen have been sent to prison for crimes against farmworkers, including slavery.

  In Tallahassee, efforts to upgrade farm labor laws often encounter dead-ends at the state Legislature. Worker advocates say they intend to refile reform legislation this year.