A grim tale of exploitation has unfolded in the Sunshine State, where three defendants face charges in a multi-state racketeering conspiracy that targeted Mexican H-2A workers.
Between 2015 and 2017, Bladimir Moreno, a permanent resident of the United States and citizen of Mexico, and Christina Gamez, a citizen of the United States who worked for Los Villatoros Harvesting (LVH) as a bookkeeper, manager and supervisor, allegedly victimized hundreds of Mexican H-2A agricultural workers employed in Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, Georgia, and North Carolina.
The indictment alleges that LVH, which functioned as a criminal enterprise, subjected the workers to forced labor, harbored them in the United States after their visas had expired for financial gain, committed visa fraud, and perpetrated fraud in foreign labor contracting.
The defendants charged with committing the RICO conspiracy operated LVH as a criminal scheme, obtaining hundreds of hours of physically demanding agricultural labor from the victimized H-2A workers through coercive means, such as imposing debts on workers, confiscating their passports, and subjecting them to crowded, unsanitary, and degrading living conditions.
According to the indictment, the defendants also threatened workers with arrest, jailtime, and deportation, isolated them, and limited their ability to interact with anyone other than LVH employees.
Guadalupe Mendes Mendoza, a citizen of Mexico who worked as a manager and supervisor for LVH, was charged with conspiracy to obstruct proceedings before agencies.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case was investigated by the Palm Beach County Human Trafficking Task Force, with assistance from the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of the Inspector General, and the U.S. Department of State – Diplomatic Security Service.
Related Federal Cases
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Human Trafficking|Forced Labor|Racketeering|Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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