KANSAS CITY, Mo., May 27 (UPI) -- A dozen people -- eight of them Uzbekistan nationals -- are charged with bringing in illegal aliens to work in 14 states, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
The defendants were named in a 45-count indictment handed up May 6 by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, the U.S. Justice Department said.
The charges, made public after the suspects were arrested and made their initial court appearances, allege labor racketeering, forced labor trafficking and immigration and other violations.
The case also involves three companies owned or controlled by one of the suspects, Abrorkhodja Askarkhodjaev, 30, a Uzbekistan citizen living in Mission, Kan. -- Giant Labor Solutions LLC in Kansas City, Crystal Management Inc. in Mission, Kan., and Five Star Cleaning LLC in Overland Park, Kan.
Federal authorities allege that since 2001 Askarkhodjaev had led a criminal enterprise and directed the other defendants in carrying out unlawful activities to further the enterprise. The indictment alleges forced labor trafficking, identity theft, harboring illegal aliens, mail fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, transporting illegal aliens, visa fraud, extortion, interstate travel in aid of racketeering, wire fraud and inducing the illegal entry of foreign nationals.
Many of the workers were employed at hotels in the Kansas City area and in Branson, Mo.
The states involved included Missouri, Kansas, Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, South Carolina and Wyoming.
