Washington: The Korean owner of a sweat shop was jailed for 40 years yesterday, in what officials said was the most severe punishment ever imposed in a human-trafficking case.
Lee Soo-Kil was said to have kept more than 200 people from China and Vietnam as forced labourers at his clothing factory in American Samoa.
With his “henchmen”, he used arrests, forced deportation and “brutal physical beatings” to keep workers under control, the Justice Department said.
The US authorities hailed the prison sentence imposed by a district court in Hawaii.
“Human trafficking is a moral evil that is nothing less than modern-day slavery,” Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said in a statement.
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“Today’s sentencing concludes the largest human-trafficking case ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice and is another example of our commitment to protect the civil rights of trafficking victims.”
Lee was charged in 2001 and convicted on February 21, 2003, of involuntary servitude, extortion and money laundering.
According to the Justice Department, workers were recruited from China and state-owned labour export companies in Vietnam.
Each worker paid a fee of between £2,700 and £4,400 ($5,000-$8,000) to get a job at the factory. All risked retaliation and punishment at home if deported back to their countries, prosecutors said.
The workers started complaining about conditions in 1999 and even tried to beg food from local residents. One woman was beaten so badly she lost an eye.
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Bradley Schlozman, the Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s civil rights division, said: “Today’s sentencing sends a clear message to those who would attempt to profit at the expense of another’s freedom.”
A manager and a worker from the factory, who had pleaded guilty to trafficking charges, were sentenced to 70 months and 51 months, respectively, last year. (AFP)