{"id":50934,"date":"2022-09-27T18:25:10","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T01:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=50934"},"modified":"2022-09-27T18:25:10","modified_gmt":"2022-09-28T01:25:10","slug":"farm-labor-contracting-co-owner-guilty-of-forced-labor-of-mexican-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=50934","title":{"rendered":"Farm Labor Contracting Co. Owner Guilty of Forced Labor of Mexican Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"person<\/a>Bladimir Moreno, 55, pleaded guilty in Tampa, Florida to conspiracy charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and conspiracy to commit forced labor, officials announced this week.<\/span><\/p>\n

A federal grand jury in Florida had previously returned a six-count indictment against multiple defendants for their roles in a federal racketeering conspiracy.<\/span><\/p>\n

The conspiracy victimized Mexican H-2A workers who had worked between 2015 and 2017 in the United States harvesting fruits, vegetables, and other agricultural products.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"\"\u201cThe scheme these defendants employed trapped the victims through fear of serious harm if they did not continue to toil away for the defendants\u2019 profit,\u201d said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice<\/span> Department\u2019s Civil Rights Division. \u201c<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cForcing individuals to work against their will using abusive and coercive tactics is not only unconscionable but illegal,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg for the Middle District of Florida.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"person<\/a>According to court documents, Moreno owned, operated, and managed Los Villatoros Harvesting (LVH), a farm labor contracting company that functioned as a criminal enterprise compelling victims to work in Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, Georgia, and North Carolina. <\/span><\/p>\n

After charging Mexican farm workers exorbitant sums to come into the United States on short-term, H-2A agricultural visas to work for LVH, Moreno and his co-conspirators coerced over a dozen workers into providing long hours of physically demanding agricultural labor, six to seven days a week, for minimal pay.<\/span><\/p>\n

Moreno and his co-conspirators used various coercive means, including acts:<\/span><\/p>\n