Manuel, Baldonado get prison for slavery scheme

By Palm Beach Business.com

WEST PALM BEACH — A Boca Raton couple who operated a labor staffing company will be spending the next few years in prison after pleading guilty to slavery charges.

Sophia Manuel received 78 months in prison and Alfonso Baldonado Jr. 51 months for holding 39 Filipinos and forcing them to work for their company, Quality Staffing Services Corp., which specialized in providing workers to country clubs and hotels in South Florida.

Manuel also was sentenced for making false statements on an application she filed with the U.S. Department of Labor to obtain foreign labor certifications and visas under the federal guest worker program.

Manuel and Baldonado recruited their victims in the Philippines,  and held them in their Boca Raton home. To make sure they worked, Manuel and Baldonado would threatene to have them arrested and deported to the Philippines, where could be jailed for nonpayment of debts.

“These defendants exploited vulnerable individuals for their own financial gain, depriving the victims of their civil rights,” said Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division. “The Department of Justice will continue to vigorously prosecute cases of forced labor where victims have been robbed of their freedom and dignity.”

Said U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer: “Today’s sentencing reminds us that America remains a land of freedom and opportunity for immigrants, not of servitude and fear. Forced labor is illegal and we will enforce the laws that protect our immigrant communities from abuse.”