{"id":52543,"date":"2023-03-20T20:24:19","date_gmt":"2023-03-21T03:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=52543"},"modified":"2023-03-20T20:26:56","modified_gmt":"2023-03-21T03:26:56","slug":"micronesian-couple-sentenced-to-prison-for-taking-away-passports-of-two-men-and-force-them-to-work-while-stealing-most-of-the-money-from-paychecks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=52543","title":{"rendered":"Micronesian Couple Sentenced to Prison for Taking Away Passports of Two Men and Forcing Them to Work While Stealing Most of their Money from Paychecks"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Couple Also Ordered to Pay Significant Restitution to the Victims<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"\"U.S. District Chief Judge Stephanie M. Rose sentenced defendants Nesly Mwarecheong, 46, and Bertino Weires, 51, U.S. residents and Federated States of Micronesia citizens, to 48 months in prison.<\/span><\/p>\n

The judge ordered nearly $70,000 in restitution to the victims for withholding passports to coerce the labor of two men in a meat processing plant.<\/span><\/p>\n

The defendants previously pleaded guilty in October 2022 to two counts of unlawful conduct concerning documents in furtherance of trafficking or forced labor for recruiting two young men from Micronesia to come to the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the U.S., they were coerced to work at a meat processing plant for the defendants\u2019 financial gain.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"According to court documents, the defendants convinced the two victims to leave their homes in Micronesia in December 2019 and travel to the United States. They promised they could work there and send money back to their families.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once in the United States, the defendants confiscated the victims\u2019 passports and obtained jobs for them at a meat processing plant in Ottumwa, Iowa. <\/span><\/p>\n

Each week, the defendants took the victims to cash their paychecks before seizing almost the entire amount and leaving the victims with a nominal amount each week. <\/span><\/p>\n

The defendants used various means to compel the victims\u2019 labor and services, including confiscating their passports and social security cards, imposing debts on them, limiting and monitoring their communication with family, physically and socially isolating them and creating a system of total financial dependence on the defendants. <\/span><\/p>\n

In so doing, the defendants created a situation where the victims either had to continue complying with the defendants\u2019 demands or risk being homeless and without a means of supporting themselves in a foreign country where they did not speak the language and had no means of returning home, according to authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cForced labor can happen anywhere in the United States, including Iowa. We will continue fighting for victims to ensure those who exploit the promise of working in the United States to coerce labor are held accountable,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Richard D. Westphal for the Southern District of Iowa. \u201cThanks to the diligent work of law enforcement, these acts of coercion and compulsion were stopped.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Investigator Jeremy Tosh of the Ottumwa Police Department investigated the case.<\/span><\/p>\n

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Virginia Bruner and Ryan Leemkuil for the Southern District of Iowa and Trial Attorney Christina Randall-James of the Civil Rights Division\u2019s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit prosecuted the case.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Couple Also Ordered to Pay Significant Restitution to the Victims U.S. District Chief Judge Stephanie M. Rose sentenced defendants Nesly Mwarecheong, 46, and Bertino Weires, 51, U.S. residents and Federated States…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3255],"tags":[3622,3623],"class_list":["post-52543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-federal-court","tag-forced-labor","tag-micronesia"],"yoast_head":"\nMicronesian Couple Sentenced to Prison for Taking Away Passports of Two Men and Forcing Them to Work While Stealing Most of their Money from Paychecks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"  Couple Also Ordered to Pay Significant Restitution to the Victims U.S. District Chief Judge Stephanie M. 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