Florida Family Charged With Enslaving Immigrant Farm Workers

MIAMI (AP) -- Federal authorities say six family members have been indicted for enslaving Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants and forcing them to perform farm labor.

According to an indictment filed in the U.S. District Court in Tampa, Cesar and Geovanni Navarrete beat, threatened, and locked workers in trucks to force them to work in the fields, picking tomatoes and other produce. The Navarretes were farm crew leaders who brought the workers to pick produce in various fields.

They were also were charged with underpaying the workers, forcing them into debt and physically threatening them if the workers left their jobs before paying off the debts.

The two Navarretes and four relatives were additionally charged with harboring illegal immigrants for private gain, and several face other charges.

If convicted, Geovanni and Cesar Navarrete could face maximum sentences of more than 200 years in prison.

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