The United States Department of Justice stated that following a two-week trial in Camden, New Jersey, a federal jury found Bolaji Bolarinwa, 50, and Isiaka Bolarinwa, 67, of Burlington County, New Jersey, guilty of forced labor and associated crimes.
The couple, aged 67 and 50, forced two people to do domestic work, including childcare, from December 2015 to October 2016.
Bolaji was found guilty of two counts of forced labor, one count of housing an alien for financial gain, and two counts of using documents to hold them in servitude.
Isiaka was found guilty of two counts of forced labor and one count of housing an alien for financial gain. They were cleared of a second count of housing an alien for financial gain.
After Victim 1 arrived in the US in December 2015, Bolaji Bolarinwa took her passport and used threats, verbal abuse, isolation, and constant surveillance to force her to work every day for nearly a year.
When Victim 2 arrived in the US in April 2016, Bolaji Bolarinwa also took her passport and coerced her into doing household work and childcare, using physical abuse as well, according to the court.
At the end of the trial on April 24, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said, “The defendants deceitfully lured the victims to the United States with promises of benefits but then betrayed them.”
She highlighted that they took the victims’ passports, threatened, degraded, physically abused, and kept them under constant surveillance to make a profit from their exploitation.
U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger added, “These defendants engaged in an egregious bait-and-switch, luring the victims with false promises of a life and an education in the United States, and instead subjected them to grueling hours, physical abuse, and psychological abuse.”
The Department of Justice noted that a sentencing hearing will be scheduled later. Both defendants face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each forced labor count and 10 years for the alien harboring count.
Bolaji also faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each count of unlawful document conduct. They will also have to pay mandatory restitution to the victims and fines up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.
