Man Enslaved 3 Immigrant Women, Treated Them Like ‘Animals’, Gets 8-Year Sentence

A California man was sentenced to eight years in prison Monday for forcing three immigrant women to work for him, against their will.

Efren Alvarez, 53, was convicted of one felony count of human labor trafficking and three felony counts of extortion in August and faced up to 15 years in prison, the Fresno Bee reported. However, he did not receive the maximum jail sentence because the judge took into consideration the facts that Alvarez did not have any prior convictions and that he did not physically harm any of the victims.

After obtaining the victims’ visas, passports and other legal documents through a complex scheme, Alvarez held them as collateral for a loan, Prosecutor Lynette Gonzales argued.

It took weeks for the victims to seek help from the United Farm Workers, a labor union for farmworkers in the United States, because the convict had threatened to report them to the immigration authorities if they did not continue to work for him.

All the three victims — Carmen, Elena and Luigi — appeared in the court and testified against Alvarez, recalling the inhuman treatment they endured in his hands.

“He was very demeaning to us,” Carmen said, adding he treated them like “animals.” “We were submissive under his orders.”

Characterizing Alvarez as an “aggressive, violent man,” Luigi said, “He said nobody could go against him. And whoever did, will pay for it.”

Elena said working for Alvarez had left her mentally scarred.

In addition, all of them urged the judge to give Alvarez the maximum punishment because they believed he will track their families down and harm them if he was put in prison.

However, the lawyer for the defendant pushed for a prison term of five years for his client. “By all accounts, he is a hard-working member of society,” Alvarez’s lawyer Nicco Capozzi said.

Before the judge announced his verdict, Alvarez said he was innocent, adding, “If I made a mistake, forgive me, because we are all humans.”

The convict’s family, friends and neighbors were also in the court and vouched on his behalf. Till Monday, Fresno County in California never had a conviction in a farm labor trafficking case.