Kansas City, Mo. ? Two men who owned roofing companies in Missouri and Kansas have been charged with hiring illegal aliens, in some cases arranging for deported workers to be smuggled back into the United States, federal prosecutors said Monday.

A 15-count indictment, handed up May 29 but not unsealed until arrests were made Monday, names the two owners, four companies and seven Mexican men suspected of working in the U.S. illegally.

The case centers on Tony Evans, 48, of Stilwell, Kan., and Luis Hernandez-Bautista, 33, of Kansas City, Mo., a Mexican citizen who was arrested in 2001 as an illegal immigrant but is now a lawful permanent resident of the United States.

Evans was president until February 2006 of Mid-Continent Specialists, which has offices in the Kansas City area and others in Pensacola, Fla., and Gulfport, Miss.

The indictment names Mid-Continent Specialists as well as Metro Roofing, another company created by Evans.

Also charged are LH Roofing and LHB Roofing, which were created by Hernandez-Bautista and registered in Kansas.