An Indian couple living in Western Nebraska will spend time in jail before being deported for trafficking a man.
On Monday, 50 year old Vishnubhai Chaudhari, and his 44 year old wife, Leelabahen Chaudhari, of Kimball were sentenced on charges of Alien Harboring for Financial Gain and Conspiracy to Harbor an Alien. Authorities say the couple “enslaved” a fellow Indian immigrant, forcing him to work without pay and abusing him. The two were managers of a Super 8 Motel in the Nebraska panhandle, and forced the victim, who was in the country illegally, to work seven days a week cleaning rooms, shoveling snow, doing laundry and a number of other tasks.
U.S. District Court Judge Lauri Smith Camp sentenced both of the defendants to one year and one day in prison, followed by two years’ supervised release. The couple also agreed to an order of removal to India at the completion of their sentences, as they are undocumented, and paid the victim $40,000 in restitution.
“Today’s sentence, and the restitution awarded to the victim, sends a clear message that the Justice Department will use its full resources to prosecute defendants like this one who motivated by their greed violate our immigration laws and exploit a vulnerable individual who lacked immigration status,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General John Gore of the Civil Rights Division.
Court documents showed that the Chaudhari's admitted to conspiring to harbor the victim between October 2011 and February 2013. Although the defendants promised to pay the victim, they never did, but rather claimed to apply that amount to a debt the victim owed. Vishnubhai also threatened to find the victim if he ever left the motel, and Leelabahen regularly assaulted the victim, including on one occasion when she slapped his face several times because he had failed to clean a bathtub to her standards.
The victim was able to eventually escape with the help of a motel guest and local law enforcement.