April 3, 2008
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/April/08_crt_271.html
Houston Woman Pleads Guilty to Forced Labor Charges
HOUSTON - Rozina Mohd Ali pleaded guilty and was sentenced today in federal district court in Houston, Texas, for her role in holding an Indonesian woman in forced labor as a domestic servant, the Justice Department has announced. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Ali, 43, of Sugarland, Texas, will spend one year and a day in prison and will pay the victim $72,676 in restitution.
“The defendant forced a hard-working Indonesian woman to do her domestic work for practically no money at all,” said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Through this guilty plea, the defendant admitted that she threatened the victim and withheld the victim’s passport so that she could not escape. The Justice Department takes all accusations very seriously and will continue to aggressively prosecute human trafficking cases such as this one wherever possible.”
During the plea hearing, Ali admitted she withheld the victim’s Indonesian passport in order to force the victim to work for Ali and Ali’s family. Ali forced the victim to work long hours over a four to five year period, performing house and yard work and taking care of the defendant and defendant’s family members with almost no compensation. In August of 2002, Ali agreed to employ the victim to work as a domestic servant for her in Malaysia for approximately $112 per month. A contract setting up the arrangement was executed. Then, Ali brought the victim to the United States on a temporary visitor’s visa to work as a domestic servant. From then until August of 2007, the victim worked tirelessly for Ali or Ali’s relatives as was only paid twice for her labor. The total compensation paid to the victim during the nearly five year period of “employment” was approximately $320.
During that time, Ali prevented the victim from returning to Indonesia by withholding her passport (necessary for international travel) and by threatening her with physical harm and other adverse consequences if she did not continue working for Ali. However, on August 19, 2007, the victim successfully escaped Ali’s residence. She was then discovered by strangers, who assisted her by taking her to the Indonesian Consulate.
“This unfortunate case of forced labor is but another side of human trafficking, subtle but just as insidious,” said Don DeGabrielle, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas.
Ali has been in federal custody without bond since her arrest by members of the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance, a federally-funded multi-agency human trafficking task force.
Human trafficking prosecutions such as this one are a top priority of the Department of Justice. In the last seven fiscal years, the Civil Rights Division, in conjunction with U.S. Attorney’s Offices, has increased by nearly seven-fold the number of human trafficking cases filed in court as compared to the previous seven fiscal years. In FY 2007, the Department obtained a record number of convictions in human trafficking prosecutions.
In announcing the sentencing, Becker and DeGabrielle commended the Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI, the Department of Labor, the Department of State, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, the Houston Police Department, the Sugarland Police Department and the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance, for their work on this cooperative investigation and prosecution.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ruben Perez and Joseph Magliolo and Civil Rights Division attorney Jim Felte and Jared Fishman prosecuted this case for the government.
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08-271
April 1, 2008
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/April/08_crt_263.html
Houston Women Sentenced for Human Trafficking Related Charges
WASHINGTON- Defendants Olga Mondragon and Maria Fuentes were sentenced today for their roles in a scheme to smuggle Central American women and girls into the United States and hold them in a condition of forced labor in bars and cantinas in the Houston area, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General for Justice Department’s Civil Rights Grace C. Becker and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Don DeGabrielle.
U.S. District Judge Vanessa D. Gilmore sentenced Olga Mondragon to 84 months of imprisonment and further ordered that she, jointly with her co-defendants pay over $1.1 million in restitution to the victims. Mondragon was further ordered to serve a period of three years of supervised release after release from prison and to pay $1,300 in special assessments.
In all, eight defendants have been convicted in connection with this scheme to compel the victims into service in restaurants, bars, and cantinas in the Houston area, using threats to harm the victims and their families if they attempted to leave before paying off their smuggling debts.
Defendant Olga Mondragon previously pleaded guilty to multiple charges stemming from her involvement in the scheme, including multiple counts of holding young Central American victims women in a condition of forced labor, a forced labor conspiracy, and immigration offenses relating to the smuggling of the Central American women into the United States for financial gain. Defendant Maria Fuentes previously pleaded guilty to Alien Harboring for Financial Gain.
“The defendants in this case lured young female victims to the Houston area with false promises of prosperity, and then used threats of physical harm to them and their families in order to force them to entertain male customers and engage in the sale of alcoholic beverages to those customers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Becker. “The Justice Department is committed to ensuring the basic right of all persons in the United States to be free from this modern-day form of slavery.”
Co-defendants Maximino Mondragon, Oscar Mondragon, Walter Corea, and Victor Omar Lopez have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Co-defendant Lorenza Reyes-Nunez was convicted of Obstruction of Justice and has been sentenced to 19 months in prison. Co-defendant Kerin Silva was convicted of Conspiracy to Smuggle Aliens and sentenced to 12 months home detention followed by three years of probation.
Human trafficking prosecutions such as this one are a top priority of the Department of Justice. In the last seven fiscal years, the Civil Rights Division, in conjunction with the U.S. Attorneys Offices, has increased by nearly seven-fold the number of human trafficking cases filed in court as compared to the previous seven fiscal years. In FY 2007, the Department obtained a record number of convictions in human trafficking prosecutions.
In announcing the sentencing, Acting Assistant Attorney General Becker and U.S. Attorney DeGabrielle commended the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission, the Harris County Constable Precinct Five Office, and the Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance, a federally funded multi-agency human trafficking task force, for their work on this cooperative investigation and prosecution.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ruben Perez and Joseph Magliolo and Civil Rights Division attorneys Jim Felte and Hilary Axam prosecuted this case for the government.
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08-263