ilbegone
02-14-2012, 01:01 PM
California couple sentenced in smuggling case
LOS ANGELES
February 15, 2012
A Southern California couple who smuggled illegal immigrants from the Philippines into the United States have been sentenced to 18 months each in federal prison and ordered to pay $600,000 in restitution to nine victims.
The US attorney’s office says Maximino and Melinda Morales of Paso Robles were sentenced Monday in Los Angeles. The couple pleaded guilty last May to conspiracy to harbor illegal immigrants.
Prosecutors say they smuggled people to work as virtual slaves in elder-care facilities they owned. Authorities say some immigrants worked as long as 24 hours at a time for little or no pay and slept in a closet, on a sofa and in an unheated garage.
They were told authorities would be called if they tried to leave.
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=777669&publicationSubCategoryId=63
LOS ANGELES
February 15, 2012
A Southern California couple who smuggled illegal immigrants from the Philippines into the United States have been sentenced to 18 months each in federal prison and ordered to pay $600,000 in restitution to nine victims.
The US attorney’s office says Maximino and Melinda Morales of Paso Robles were sentenced Monday in Los Angeles. The couple pleaded guilty last May to conspiracy to harbor illegal immigrants.
Prosecutors say they smuggled people to work as virtual slaves in elder-care facilities they owned. Authorities say some immigrants worked as long as 24 hours at a time for little or no pay and slept in a closet, on a sofa and in an unheated garage.
They were told authorities would be called if they tried to leave.
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=777669&publicationSubCategoryId=63