Filipino couple in California faces up to 25 years for forced labor

LOS ANGELES— The Filipina owner of two elder care homes in Long Beach in California faces 25 years in federal prison after she pleaded guilty early last week to two forced labor offenses for bringing illegal aliens into the United States and forcing two of them to work at her businesses. Evelyn Pelayo, 52, pleaded guilty on March 23 to "forced labor and unlawful conduct with respect to documents in furtherance of forced labor," says a press statement from the US justice department. Pelayo owned two residences in Long Beach where she operated an elderly care and boarding facilities called Vernon Way Care Home and Walton Care Home. Both elder care homes, advertised as assisted living facilities—and located at 5561 E Vernon Street and 5651 E Walton Street—were shut down in April 2008, following the execution of federal search warrants. Pelayo’s husband, Darwin Padolina, 56, also pleaded guilty to harboring and concealing a third illegal alien for private financial gain, adds theDepartment of Justice (DOJ) statement. Padolina admitted that he hid the alien, a fellow Filipino, for 10 years while the person worked as a domestic servant in his home. He faces a maximum possible penalty of 10 years in prison. Pelayo and Padolina are scheduled for sentencing on June 22. Two other defendants in the case, Rodolfo Demafeliz, 39, and his assistant, Rolleta Riazon, 28, both Philippine nationals, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to encourage and induce illegal aliens to enter the United States for the purpose of private financial gain. Demafeliz and Riazon have completed their sentences and have been deported to the Philippines. According to the DOJ, Pelayo admitted that she paid a co-defendant $12,000 to smuggle two illegal aliens into the U.S. from the Philippines and then forced the two to work at her elder care homes after confiscating their passports and threatening to turn them over to authorities if they attempted to escape. "The defendants in this case exploited the dreams of foreign nationals who sought a better life in the United States," said United States Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien. "Instead of realizing the American Dream, the victims in this case were subjected to inhumane treatment that profited only the defendants. For forcing victims to work up to 24 hours a day, while keeping up to half of their meager salaries, Ms. Pelayo is now facing a lengthy prison sentence commensurate with her crimes." "Sometimes it’s simply hard to understand why some of our people do this kind of inhumanity," says a Filipino neighbor of Pelayo on Vernon Street who requested anonymity. "They abuse their own people and abuse the law. It’s plain greed." Pelayo recruited potential workers in the Philippines, promising them jobs in her elder care facilities. Once the victims agreed, the DOJ adds, Pelayo contacted Demafeliz, a Taekwondo martial arts instructor, who would enter the aliens in Taekwondo tournaments in the U.S. as a ruse to bring them into the country. Demafeliz obtained visas for the victims and provided them with limited martial arts training to make the visas appear legitimate. Once the aliens were brought to Southern California, Pelayo paid Demafeliz $6,000 for each alien smuggled into the United States. However, Pelayo told the victims that she paid $12,000 and informed them that they would have to work at her elder care facilities until they had repaid her for their smuggling debt. Pelayo also told some victims that they would have to work for her for 10 years, even if their smuggling debts were repaid. Pelayo confiscated the victims’ passports; discouraged victims from speaking with neighbors, patients, family members of patients and law enforcement officials; and threatened to contact police and immigration officials if they tried to escape. The case against Pelayo and her husband was investigated by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area Task Force on Human Trafficking. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sandy Leal and DOJ Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Kayla Bakshi. - Philippine News