California couple sentenced for smuggling immigrants from Philippines
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
LOS ANGELES -- A Southern California couple who smuggled illegal immigrants from the Philippines into the United States have been sentenced to 18 months each in federal prison and ordered to pay $600,000 in restitution to nine victims.
The U.S. attorney's office says Maximino and Melinda Morales of Paso Robles were sentenced Monday in Los Angeles.
The couple pleaded guilty last May to conspiracy to harbor illegal immigrants.
Prosecutors say they smuggled people to work as virtual slaves in elder-care facilities they owned. Authorities say some immigrants worked as long as 24 hours at a time for little or no pay and slept in a closet, on a sofa and in an unheated garage.
They were told authorities would be called if they tried to leave. (AP)
