Woman Sentenced for Forcing Immigrant to Work Without Pay

SAN FRANCISCO (April 15) -- A Bay Area woman has been sentenced to five years in prison for forcing an illegal Peruvian immigrant to work without pay for nearly two years, U.S. Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced Thursday.

Real estate agent Mabelle de la Rosa Dann, 46, was found guilty last year of conspiring to smuggle the victim from Peru in 2006, bringing her to suburban Walnut Creek, Calif., and forcing her to cook, clean and provide child care for 21 months.

U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken, who handed down the prison sentence Wednesday, also ordered Dann to pay the victim $123,740 in restitution.

Russoniello said the sentence is a reminder that the U.S. Constitution guarantees that no one in this country, including illegal immigrants, can be forced to work. He encouraged anyone who knows of similar cases to report them to the police.

"Each of us, including those who enter the country illegally, owns our own labor," he said. "My office cannot and will not tolerate the exploitation and deprivation of freedoms, including basic work freedom, of anybody in this country."

The U.S. Attorney's Office said this was the first human trafficking trial in the Northern District of California, which includes the Bay Area and the North Coast.

Dann, a native of Peru, was found guilty of conspiring with at least one other person to obtain a fraudulent visa for the victim and smuggle her into the United States.

The real estate agent promised to pay the woman for her work but never did. She humiliated and mentally abused the victim, confiscated her passport and Peruvian identification, and threatened to accuse her of theft if she fled.

The victim had never traveled outside Peru and could not speak English before her arrival. She ultimately reported her plight to parents and officials at the school that Dann's children attended. The adults helped her escape and report the case to authorities.

Dann was convicted of five counts: commission of forced labor, unlawful use of documents in furtherance of forced labor, harboring an illegal alien for private financial gain, conspiracy to commit visa fraud and visa fraud.

She has been ordered to report for prison on June 30.

Authorities asked that the media not report the name of the victim. She has been allowed to remain in the country legally during the court proceedings and is in the process of applying for a visa for victims of human trafficking.

Mark Wollman, special agent in charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Investigations in San Francisco, said ICE is aggressively investigating incidents of forced labor and attempting to raise public awareness of the problem.

"We hope this sentence provides closure and some consolation to the victim, but the unfortunate reality is, people who are trafficked are often haunted by the emotional and physical trauma of that experience for the rest of their lives," he said. "We want human trafficking victims to understand they have a voice and let them know that help is available if they come forward to report this crime."