Man jailed over women smuggling

Man jailed over women smuggling

LOS ANGELES (AP): A man was sentenced to 27 months in prison for arranging to smuggle two Indonesian women into the United States and holding them as indentured servants.

Robert Lie, 55, was sentenced on Thursday. He also must pay nearly US$100,000 to the women, who were forced to work for him 12 hours a day, seven days a week for 2 1/2 years, prosecutors said Friday.

"This is an example of the atrocities and the ruthless nature found in the human smuggling trade," U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service Director Thomas J. Schiltgen said in a statement.

Lie arranged to have his brother smuggle the women into the country on promises that they would receive $150 to $200 per month in wages for domestic work, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement.

When the women arrived, their passports were confiscated. They lived and worked at Lie family homes in southern California for 2 1/2 years, and were only allowed outside when accompanied by a family member, prosecutors said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Warren said the women never received any money. Lie sent less than $2,500 to their families in Indonesia.

The women finally were rescued after they sent a letter to police asking for help.

In December, Lie pleaded guilty to two counts of alien harboring and two counts of willful failure to pay the minimum wage. He did not contest government allegations that he sexually assaulted one woman.

U.S. District Judge Spencer J. Letts added about 15 months of prison time to the sentence for the alleged assault even though Lie was not convicted of rape, Warren said.