An Indian-American couple has been sentenced to prison for luring a relative to enroll in a school only to be exploited to work at their gas station and convenience store. The Justice Department said.
The Arrest of Indian-American Couple
The court has sentenced Harmanpreet Singh, 31, to 135 months (11.25 years), and Kulbir Kaur, 43, to 87 months (7.25 years) in prison and were ordered to pay their victim, Singh's cousin, of $225,210.76 restitution for luring the victim to the United States under the pretenses of school enrollment only to be subjected to threats, physical force, and mental abuse to work extended hours in exchange for minimum compensation.
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The victim, who has long been sincerely aspiring to pursue an education and enhance his life, has been deprived of fundamental human necessities and stripped of his liberty, the US Attorney Virginia, Jessica D. Aber, said.
Trial Evidence of The Case
According to the Justice Department, the evidence presented at trial in 2018 revealed that the victim was enticed to travel to the US from India with false promises of helping him enroll in school. Still, his immigration documents were seized upon his arrival, and he was coerced into providing labor and services at Singh's store involuntarily from March 2018 to May 2021.
Singh and Kaur employed various coercive tactics to force the victim to work at the store, performing tasks such as cleaning, cooking, stocking, and managing the cash register and store records for between 12 and 17 hours nearly every day in exchange for minimal pay, as detailed in trial evidence.
Aside from confiscating the victim's immigration documents and subjecting him to physical abuse, threats of violence, and other forms of serious harm, Singh and Kaur also degraded the victim's living conditions to coerce him into continuing work. According to the evidence, the victim was frequently left alone at the store to sleep in a back office for extended periods on multiple occasions, restricted access to food, denied medical care and educational opportunities, and monitored using surveillance equipment both at the store and in their home.
The evidence further demonstrated that the victim's requests to return to India were ignored, and he was coerced into overstaying his visa instead. Otherwise, he would be physically assaulted by Singh by pulling his hair, slapping, and kicking him whenever he requested his immigration documents or attempted to leave. The victim was also threatened with a revolver on three separate occasions, where he tried to take time off or expressed a desire to leave and was compelled to marry Kaur and used this marriage as leverage to threaten to seize his family's properties or falsely report him to the police if he attempted to leave.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division emphasized that the sentence should clearly signal that such exploitation "will not be accepted in our communities."
