A federal grand jury has indicted three Mexican citizens on 35 counts related to a scheme that allegedly trafficked Mexican farmworkers into the United States under false pretenses, forcing them into grueling labor and harboring them after their visas expired to boost the defendants’ profits.
The indictment accuses the group of abusing the H-2A visa program by luring workers with job promises, only to trap them in exploitative conditions.
“Three individuals have been indicted for exploiting the H-2A visa program to lure vulnerable workers from Mexico to the United States with promises of legitimate employment, only to then confiscate their identity documents and force them to labor in inhumane conditions,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a news release.
“These charges reflect the Department’s commitment to protecting the integrity of our lawful immigration system and holding accountable those who corrupt it to exploit and abuse foreign workers. The Criminal Division will continue to investigate and prosecute forced labor and human trafficking wherever it occurs,” Duva added.
“We will find and eradicate any illegal immigration we find here in the EDNC,” said U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle for the Eastern District of North Carolina (EDNC). “We do not tolerate abuse of the system to hurt unsuspecting victims of human trafficking.”
Court documents identify the lead defendant as Martha Zeferino Jose, 42, a U.S. permanent resident and Mexican citizen who owned and ran Las Princesas Corporation, a farm labor contracting firm in Washington, North Carolina. She allegedly operated it with her partner, Jose Rodriguez Munoz, an illegal alien from Mexico, and her son, Jeremy Zeferino Jose, 23, also a U.S. permanent resident and Mexican citizen.
From about August 2021 to July 2022, Martha Zeferino Jose is accused of filing misleading applications with the Department of Labor and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, claiming her company would follow all wage, housing, and other worker-protection rules — promises she reportedly had no plan to keep.
Recruiters tied to the company allegedly demanded large upfront fees from the workers, leaving them in debt upon arrival.
Once in the U.S., the defendants are said to have seized their passports, visas, and IDs to block escapes, then required them to toil at farms and nurseries in three states under harsh conditions.
The indictment details allegations of excessive work hours without breaks or water, substandard housing without basics like heat, air conditioning, or bedding, unpaid wages, food shortages, and ignored medical needs.
To maintain control, the group allegedly enforced isolation by banning unsupervised outings or outside conversations, while using surveillance and threats of deportation, arrest, or lost job prospects to instill fear. After some visas lapsed, the defendants reportedly urged workers to remain illegally and sheltered them at homes and job sites for personal gain.
When the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division began probing Las Princesas, Martha Zeferino Jose, and Munoz allegedly interfered by returning seized documents before inspections and by coaching workers to lie about conditions.
All three face charges, including forced labor, conspiracy to commit forced labor, alien harboring for financial gain, conspiracy to commit alien harboring for financial gain, and document servitude. Martha Zeferino Jose also faces visa fraud counts, while she and Munoz are charged with obstruction and conspiracy to obstruct agency proceedings.
Conviction could bring up to 20 years per forced labor or related conspiracy count, 10 years per harboring or related conspiracy count, and five years for document servitude. Martha Zeferino Jose risks 10 years for visa fraud, with both she and Munoz facing five years each for obstruction and the obstruction conspiracy.
The case is under investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the Labor Department’s Office of Inspector General, with aid from the U.S. Marshals Service.
Trial Attorney Matthew Thiman from the Justice Department’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Blondel from the Eastern District of North Carolina are handling the prosecution.
Tips on human trafficking can be reported to the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888, open around the clock. More details are at www.humantraffickinghotline.org. The Justice Department’s anti-trafficking work is outlined at www.justice.gov/humantrafficking.
An indictment contains only allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
