Couple lured cousin to US and forced him into labor, feds say. They’re going to prison
A Virginia couple convicted of forced labor will serve time in federal prison after prosecutors said they used violence and threats to keep the man’s younger cousin working at their gas station for years — with little pay.
Harmanpreet Singh, 31, and Kulbir Kaur, 43, lured Singh’s cousin, who was a minor, to the U.S. from India by promising to help him get an education, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
But when he arrived in Virginia, they confiscated his immigration documents and “immediately put him to work” at the Lovely Market, a gas station and convenience store in North Chesterfield, according to prosecutors and court documents, McClatchy News previously reported.
For more than three years, Singh and Kaur forced the cousin to work between 12 to 17 hours almost every day using “various coercive means,” including physical abuse and “degrading living conditions,” prosecutors said.
The couple wouldn’t let him leave and had him clean, cook, stock store shelves, work the cash register and handle store records between March 2018 and May 2021, according to prosecutors.
They regularly left him to sleep in a back office of the store and would monitor him through surveillance, prosecutors said.
When the cousin confronted Singh and Kaur about his poor working conditions or expressed his desire to enroll in school, Singh became violent, a trial brief says. Singh slapped, kicked and pulled his cousin’s hair and repeatedly threatened to kill him, according to the filing.
He also threatened him with a revolver, prosecutors said.
The sentence
A judge sentenced Singh to 11 years and three months in prison and Kaur to seven years and three months in prison on June 25, the U.S. attorney’s office announced in a news release.
In January, Sing and Kaur, both of Chesterfield, were convicted of forced labor, conspiracy to commit forced labor, harboring for financial gain and document servitude, according to prosecutors.
Singh and Kaur are now divorced, prosecutors said.
“While Mr. Singh respects the hard work of the jury; he strongly disagrees with the verdict and is disappointed by the outcome of his case. He will continue to vigorously pursue all legal challenges available to him,” Singh’s attorneys, Atchuthan Sriskandarajah and Matthew W. Greene, told McClatchy News in an emailed statement on June 26.
Kaur’s defense attorney didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber said in a statement that “the crimes committed by these defendants are not merely violations of the law; they are an (affront) to humanity.”
As part of their sentences, Singh and Kaur have been ordered to pay Singh’s cousin $225,210.76 in restitution, court records show.
Forced into marriage
Though Singh’s cousin repeatedly asked to return to India, Singh and Kaur refused to let him go home, resulting in him overstaying his visa, according to prosecutors.
They both forced the cousin to marry Kaur as another way to make him stay in the U.S., prosecutors said.
Sing and Kaur “used that marriage to threaten to take the victim’s family’s properties or falsely report him to the police if he left,” prosecutors said.
In addition to denying him the opportunity to pursue an education, Singh and Kaur denied him food and medical care, according to prosecutors.
Singh and Kaur “preyed on the victim’s earnest desire to attain an education and improve his life,” Aber said in the release.
“Instead, they deprived him of the most basic human needs and robbed him of his freedom,” she said. “We remain steadfastly committed to securing justice for victims of human trafficking.”
Human trafficking in the U.S.
Human trafficking is a “crime of exploitation,” according to the U.S. Department of State. Traffickers profit off their victims by forcing them to engage in sex acts or do labor.
“With an estimated 27.6 million victims worldwide at any given time, human traffickers prey on people of all ages, backgrounds, and nationalities, exploiting them for their own profit,” officials said.
Industries where trafficking victims are forced to work include hospitality, restaurants, agriculture, construction, landscaping, factories, home care, salons, massage parlors, retail, janitorial and many more, officials said.
In the U.S., children in welfare or juvenile justice systems, such as foster care, are the most vulnerable to human trafficking, officials said.
Children and teens experiencing homelessness, people seeking asylum, people who struggle with substance abuse, migrant laborers, people who identify as part of the LGBTQ community and victims of domestic violence are also more vulnerable to becoming victims of human trafficking
“Traffickers can be strangers, acquaintances, or even family members, and they prey on the vulnerable and on those seeking opportunities to build for themselves a brighter future,” officials said.
This story was originally published June 27, 2024 at 8:55 AM with the headline "Couple lured cousin to US and forced him into labor, feds say. They’re going to prison."
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