Authorities announced on Monday the conviction of an Indian American couple from Stockton, California on human trafficking charges, The Modesto Bee reports.
On Thursday, a jury convicted Satish Kartan, 45, and his wife, Sharmistha Barai, 40.
According to The Week, Kartan and Barai recruited foreign nationals from India and Nepal from February 2014 to October 2016 under false pretenses. Advertisements on the internet stated that Kartan and Baria were looking for workers to perform domestic duties in their home. The advertisements made false claims about wages and duties.
Once the workers arrived, the couple forced them to work 18 hours a day without pay. They also physically abused the workers and threatened them with violence if they ever tried to leave.
“These defendants exploited one victim after another, using them to labor in their home, failing to pay wages and depriving them of basic human rights,” U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott said in the news release.
Several victims flew from overseas to testify. The trial lasted 11 days. One worker testified that Barai hit her multiple times and threatened to kill her.
“Kartan and Barai did not simply fail to pay victims for their work,” said Sean Ragan, Special Agent in Charge of the Sacramento FBI Field Office in the news release. “They deprived them of their dignity and robbed them of their federally-protected civil rights.”
The couple will face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a potential $250,000 fine. They are set to be sentenced on June 6.
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