‘Modern-day slavery’: Three men sentenced to prison for forced labor at south Georgia farms
Three men were sentenced to federal prison on Thursday for their connection to forced labor at south Georgia farms, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Their names are Javier Sanchez Mendoza Jr. (24), Aurelio Medina (42) and Yordon Velzquez Victoria (45).
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Their cases were part of an investigation called Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, Operation Blooming Onion.
This investigation looked into a conspiracy that citizens of Central America were being brought into the United States to be underpaid farmworkers kept in substandard conditions.
Mendoza of Jesup, Georgia admitted that between August 2018 and November 2019, he recruited more than 500 Central American citizens and threatened them to work for little to no pay in deplorable conditions.
He also admitted to unlawfully charging them for H-2A visas meant for temporary farm work and withholding their identification papers.
One of Mendoza’s victims came forward and stated that Mendoza had brought her to live at his home and deceived her into believing she married him, threatening and raping her multiple times for more than a year.
When she said she escaped from Mendoza, he kidnapped her at knifepoint from a home she was babysitting at.
Officers found a shrine to Santa Muerte or “Saint Death” in Mendoza’s home. It was decorated with the victim’s hair and blood which she stated was a prelude to her murder.
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Medina of Brunswick, Georgia admitted he unlawfully charged Central American citizens for H-2A visas and withheld their identification documents from April 2020 to October 2020. He conspired with Victoria, a U.S. citizen from Brunswick, and used his name to apply for the visas.
“These men engaged in facilitating modern-day slavery,” said David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.
Mendoza was sentenced to 360 months after he pled guilty to conspiracy to engage in forced labor and faces pending charges for aggravated assault.
Medina was sentenced to 64 months after he pled guilty to forced labor, and Victoria was sentenced to 15 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy.
Mendoza and Medina are citizens of Mexico and may or may not be deported after their prison terms.
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