Couple residing in California pleads guilty to holding a girl in involuntary servitude
CAIRO: A former husband and wife, Egyptian nationals residing in Southern California in the U.S., pleaded guilty on Thursday to federal charges of holding an Egyptian girl as a “slave in their home. She arrived in the U.S. in August of 2000 with the couple.
An indictment charged Abdel Nasser Eid Youssef Ibrahim, 45, and Amal Ahmed Ewis-Abd Motelib, 43, with two counts of human trafficking, harboring an illegal immigrant and conspiracy.
The pair was accused of bringing the girl (whose name has not been released due to her status as a minor) into the United States in August 2000 and forcing her to work under harsh conditions for no pay. She was ordered to clean their Irvine home and take care of their five children.
The American prosecutors claimed that the girl received no compensation during her 20 months working for the couple. They allege that she was forced to sleep in a 12-by-8-foot converted area of the family s garage, had her passport taken away, was forbidden from playing outside and was subject to verbal and physical abuse.
As part of their agreement, Ibrahim and Motelib each pleaded guilty to conspiracy, holding a person in involuntary servitude through force or coercion, obtaining labor through unlawful force or coercion and harboring an illegal alien.
We did a mistake here in the United States of America because we didn t respect the law, Motelib said through her translator during a hearing before U.S. District Judge James V. Selna. At that time we were new here, reported local press.
Both are expected to receive three years in prison when they are sentenced on Oct. 23, 2006. As a condition of the plea, the pair agreed to pay $101,516 in restitution to the girl.
The girl, who is now 16 but was only 12 when authorities found her in April 2002, will be allowed to stay in the United States, said U.S. Attorney Debra Wong Yang. She is currently living with a foster family in Southern California and attending a public high school where she is doing great, according to a statement made by Assistant U.S. Atty. Robert J. Keenan to the Los Angeles Times. She has received a green card granting her permanent residency in the U.S.
As part of the plea deal, Ibrahim and Motelib must pay the girl about $100,000 in restitution and back wages. Both will be sentenced on Oct. 23.
Though hiring young children as live-in domestic help is not uncommon in Egypt, they are usually paid a salary and are not generally ill treated.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office investigated the case after local officials received an anonymous tip about the girl. with AP
