MIAMI, May 4 (UPI) -- A Florida man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison on involuntary servitude charges, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
Juan Ramos was charged conspiring to hold workers in involuntary servitude and harboring undocumented workers. A federal judge also fined him $20,000.
His brother and co-defendant Ramiro Ramos was also sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined $20,000, March 1.
In addition, the brothers were ordered to forfeit their claims to property valued at more than $3 million.
The department said the Ramos brothers were Florida labor contractors who supplied migrant farm laborers to citrus growers. Undocumented Mexican citizens were transported to Florida to work for the Ramos brothers.
Once in Florida, the department said, the Mexican citizens were forced to work until they had paid off their transportation debt. The brothers threatened the workers with violence if they left prematurely, the department said, and brutally beat a van driver and several of his employees to prevent them from taking workers away from the area.
