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Five Accused Of Illegally Bringing Immigrants to Ohio Egg Farms
By: Associated Press
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CLEVELAND (AP) – Federal authorities have indicted five people on charges related to allegations of illegally bringing teenagers from Guatemala and forcing them to work long hours with little pay at central Ohio egg farms.
An indictment unsealed Thursday in Cleveland accuses some defendants of charging the teens thousands of dollars to come to the U.S., then forcing them to work 12-hour days on farms near Marion. The indictment says teens had to give the defendants their paychecks and would receive little money in return to buy food and necessities while being housed in dilapidated trailers.
The charges include labor-trafficking conspiracy, forced labor, witness tampering and harboring illegal aliens. The illegal activity in the indictment allegedly occurred in 2014.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the defendants were in custody or have attorneys.