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Owners of Boca-based firm plead guilty to forced labor for 39 Filipinos

Workers toiled for little or no pay after being told they incurred huge debts
By Wayne K. Roustan, Sun Sentinel

10:02 p.m. EDT, September 17, 2010

Two owners of a Boca Raton-based employment contracting firm have pleaded guilty to forcing 39 Filipino nationals to work under threat of deportation.

According to federal court documents, Alfonso Baldonado Jr., 45, and Sophia Manuel, 41, of Quality Staffing Services Corporation, sought a "cheap and compliant labor pool," by promising to bring in victims who would incur huge debts, then forcing them to work for little or no pay in country clubs and hotels across South Florida.

After the victims arrived at the defendants' Boca Raton home, they confiscated their passports, then put the immigrants in an overcrowded, substandard home without adequate food or drinking water. The workers were then were ordered not to leave the premises without permission and an escort, according to court records.

If the workers complained about these terms and conditions they were threatened with arrest and deportation, prosecutors said.

"They came here seeking a better life, but found their dream of freedom transformed into a real-life nightmare of servitude and fear," U.S. Attorney Wilfredo Ferrer said in a statement.

Manuel also pleaded guilty to making false statements in an application she filed with the U.S. Department of Labor to obtain foreign labor visas under the federal guest worker program.