4 indicted for smuggling Pinoys in US

LOS ANGELES – A nursing home owner in California has been indicted on federal human trafficking charges that include allegations she and three others conspired to bring six Filipinos to the United States and forced them to work long hours at two of her facilities.

Evelyn Pelayo, 51, of Long Beach, was accused of recruiting workers in the Philippines with the promise of employment upon arrival, the US Attorney’s office said Friday.

Once they agreed, Pelayo contacted two Filipinos, both of them martial arts instructors, to arrange for the victims to enter the US by falsely claiming they were participating in taekwondo tournaments, prosecutors said.

When they arrived in the country, the six never participated in any tournament. Instead, they were forced to work nearly 24 hours a day, every day, and had half of their salaries withheld to “repay” the smuggling fees, prosecutors said.

Pelayo was accused of taking away the victims’ passports and threatening to report them to immigration officials if they tried to leave, according to the indictment.

“The defendants... are alleged to have lured foreign nationals to the US with promises of employment and a better quality of life, then turned a profit by overworking and threatening victims repeatedly,” Salvador Hernandez, assistant director in charge of the FBI in Los Angeles, said.

Pelayo was charged with aiding and abetting, harboring illegal aliens, forced labor, human trafficking and conspiracy. She faces up to 140 years in federal prison if convicted on all counts.

Also named in the indictment were her husband, Darwin Padolina, 56, and Philippine nationals Rodolfo Demafeliz, 39, and Rolleta Riazon, 28. They were each charged with conspiracy to smuggle illegal aliens and each faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. – AP