The indictment charges the owner, manager and bookkeeper with conspiracy under the RICO Act, to commit forced labor and obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies and committees. File photo: Richard Thornton, Shutter Stock, licensed.
PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL – A federal grand jury in the Middle District of Florida has returned a six-count indictment against three defendants for their alleged roles in a federal racketeering conspiracy that victimized Mexican H-2A workers who, between 2015 and 2017, had worked in the United States harvesting fruits, vegetables and other agricultural products.
The indictment alleges that from 2015 through 2017, the defendants participated in running a labor contracting company for H-2A agricultural workers called Los Villatoros Harvesting (LVH), which functioned as a criminal enterprise. LVH subjected multiple Mexican H-2A agricultural workers employed in Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, Georgia and North Carolina to forced labor. LVH also harbored H-2A workers in the United States after their visas had expired for financial gain and committed visa fraud and fraud in foreign labor contracting.
The indictment charges Bladimir Moreno, a permanent resident of the United States and citizen of Mexico who owned and managed LVH, and Christina Gamez, a citizen of the United States who worked for LVH as a bookkeeper, manager and supervisor, with conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, conspiracy to commit forced labor, forced labor, and conspiracy to obstruct proceedings before departments, agencies and committees. Guadalupe Mendes Mendoza, a citizen of Mexico who worked as a manager and supervisor for LVH, was charged with conspiracy to obstruct proceedings before agencies.
The indictment alleges that the defendants charged with committing the RICO conspiracy operated LVH as a criminal scheme. They obtained hundreds of hours of physically demanding agricultural labor from the victimized H-2A workers through coercive means, such as imposing debts on workers; confiscating the workers’ passports; subjecting workers to crowded, unsanitary and degrading living conditions, as well as to yelling and verbal abuse; threatening workers with arrest, jailtime and deportation; isolating workers and limiting their ability to interact with anyone other than LVH employees; and suggesting to workers that if they failed to comply with the defendants’ demands, they or their family members could be physically harmed.
This case was investigated by the Palm Beach County Human Trafficking Task Force (to include the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office), with assistance from the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of the Inspector General, and the U.S. Department of State – Diplomatic Security Service. It will be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Murray and Trial Attorneys Avner Shapiro and Maryam Zhuravitsky of the Civil Rights Division.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) and several other GOP members including James Lankford (OK) and Ted Cruz (TX) back the bill which would establish protections for service members from being potentially dishonorably discharged if they refuse the jab. File photo: Mark Reinstein, Shutter Stock, licensed.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Republican senators, reacting to President Joe Biden’s recent mandate that all members of the U.S. military be vaccinated against COVID-19 or they would be relieved of their duties, are moving to establish protections for service members from being potentially dishonorably discharged if they refuse the jab.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has mandated COVID-19 vaccines for all U.S. military, with the Pentagon declaring it a lawful order. But reports indicate that Biden may be considering having the Pentagon issue dishonorable discharges for those members of the military that do not comply with the vaccine mandate.
GOP Senators unveil legislation seeking to block dishonorable discharges for unvaccinated troops | Just The News https://t.co/5kuC8ftlO7
This news has led U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) and several other GOP members last week to draft the COVID-19 Vaccine Dishonorable Discharge Prevention Act, which is slated to be including in the House of Representatives’ upcoming National Defense Authorization Act.
“To have a dishonorable discharge will take away your second amendment it’s going to keep you from accessing the educational opportunities the military affords as well as access to the VA for your healthcare. So this is a big, big deal if you are in the military right now,” Marshall said. ““There is no question about it: American heroes should not be treated as felons because of their personal medical choices.”
If adopted, Marshall’s legislation would “bar dishonorable discharges for not getting the vaccine but the White House said that ‘would limit a commander’s options for enforcing good order and discipline when a service member fails to obey a lawful order to receive a vaccination.’”
However, the legislation would not entirely protect a military member from reprisals altogether; their dismissal from the service could still be carried out, but only in the form of an honorable discharge, which would keep their access to post-military government programs intact.
“[A] member of an Armed Force under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of a military department subject to discharge on the basis of the member choosing not to receive the COVID–19 vaccine may only receive an honorable discharge,” the bill reads.
In addition to Marshall, Republican Senators Ted Cruz (TX) and James Lankford (OK) also backed the bill.
“It’s an insult to our servicemen and women who have served with honor to dishonorably discharge them for refusing the COVID vaccine,” Cruz said. “It is the same way we dishonorably discharge those convicted of serious crimes such as treason, desertion, sexual assault, and murder.”
The preliminary investigation revealed that some sort of altercation occurred, and a shot was fired. The investigation also revealed the male subject had a history of domestic violence. Homicide detectives are investigating this incident and will be presenting the case to the Broward County State Attorney’s Office for review.
OAKLAND PARK, FL – A shooting at a home in Oakland Park on Monday morning left one man dead, and Broward Sheriff Homicide Unit detectives are investigating the circumstances of this domestic incident.
According to authorities, at approximately 11:16 a.m., on September 27, Broward County Regional Communications received a call regarding a shooting in the 4400 block of Northwest 19th Avenue in Oakland Park. Broward Sheriff’s Office Oakland Park district deputies and Oakland Park Fire Rescue responded.
Once at the scene, deputies located an adult male suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Paramedics transported the man to Broward Health Medical Center where he died from his injuries. The female subject was also transported to a nearby hospital for medical evaluation.
The preliminary investigation revealed that some sort of altercation occurred, and a shot was fired. The investigation also revealed the male subject had a history of domestic violence. Homicide detectives are investigating this incident and will be presenting the case to the Broward County State Attorney’s Office for review.
Both names of the subjects involved were withheld. The adult female remains in custody.
Felicia Singh, a teacher who triumphed in the Democratic Party’s crowded primary in June, will square off with Queens Republican Party Chairwoman Joann Ariola on Nov. 2. The district includes parts of the Rockaway peninsula, Howard Beach, Belle Harbor, Woodhaven, and South Ozone Park.
Courtesy of the Ariola and Singh campaigns
Joann Ariola and Felicia Singh are competing to replace Eric Ulrich in the City Council.
The election for Queens Council District 32—which includes parts of the Rockaway peninsula, Howard Beach, Belle Harbor, Woodhaven and South Ozone Park—is, by many measures, one of the most contentious races on the November general election ballot.
On Nov. 2, voters there will likely elect Queens Republican Party Chairwoman Joann Ariola or Felicia Singh, a teacher who triumphed over five other Democrats in the party’s crowded primary in June. Kenichi Wilson, chair of Queens Community Board 9, is also running on the Community First line.
“It is historic: No matter what the outcome is in the 32nd, a woman will be going from the 32nd to City Hall,” Ariola, who is from Howard Beach, told City Limits.
District 32 is a critical, final stronghold for the Queens GOP: While Democrats have represented it in the Council before, it is the only district in the borough currently represented by a Republican, term-limited Councilmember Eric Ulrich. It’s also one of just three current Council districts citywide with a GOP rep, with the other two located on Staten Island.
Read more elections coverage here.
Available data suggest that the race could be close: The number of active Queens Republicans increased nearly 14 percent—from 122,888 to 139,699—between November 2016 and November 2020. The party’s growth in Queens outpaced that of the Queens Democrats, which increased their enrollment around 11 percent. Only Staten Island saw a greater increase in the number of Republicans enrolled during the four-year period.
And voting data from last year’s borough president election, which Ariola lost to former Councilmember Donovan Richards, show she performed well in the Assembly district that contains most of District 32, ultimately earning 43 percent of the vote to Richards’ roughly 46 percent share, the Queens Eagle reported in January. A considerable share of the district also supported former President Donald Trump, a Queens native, in the 2020 presidential election, according to an analysis of certified election results by the CUNY Graduate Center.
“I’m running in one of the most competitive general elections in the city,” Singh, who has netted endorsements from both the New York Working Families Party, the Sunrise Movement, and many labor unions, said in a recent interview. “In fact, it’s probably more competitive than the mayoral election.”
Still, Democrats still heavily outnumber Republicans in Queens, with 807,187 active members across the borough. And Singh, a lifelong resident of Ozone Park who would be the first South Asian representative in the Council, has pulled in more in contributions, campaign finance records show, with $74,965. Ariola has raised $43,231.
Several weeks ahead of the start of early voting, both candidates said they are focused on what is at stake: An ethnically and culturally diverse district, one uniquely vulnerable to the accelerating impacts of climate change. Affordable housing, education, infrastructure and resiliency are critical voter concerns, both agreed.
Fewer major felonies were reported in the community districts that compose District 32 compared with many other parts of the city, according to NYPD complaint data. Queens Community District 9, which includes Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, and Woodhaven, for example, ranked among the five community districts with the lowest number of reported crimes in 2019.
Still, in conversations she’s had throughout the district, Ariola said community members remain concerned about crime. “One of the other differences between my opponent and myself, is that I’m more community-based and motivated when choosing a position on a particular issue, where my opponent really kind of follows the leader on the movement.”
The growing South Asian and Indo-Caribbean population in the district has been largely excluded from local politics, Singh said, and has not benefited from the status quo.
“A lot of our community members have felt erased in the way that they’ve received services from the city,” she said. “The thing that I envision the most about winning this election and what I hope we’re able to give back to our community is centering equity and justice in District 32.”
The same week Ariola and Singh spoke to City Limits, the Republican candidate criticized Singh’s support of extending municipal voting privileges to lawful permanent residents who live in the city, calling Singh, who testified in support of the measure, a “radical.”
“Voting is a sacred right that must remain tied to citizenship,” Ariola said in a Sept. 21 press release. “This bill would chip away at the value of citizenship and the incentive for new Americans to make the commitment to become citizens. Not surprisingly, my radical opponent wants this and testified in favor of it in the Council hearing.”
“When you’re to the left of Bill de Blasio, then you know you’re a radical,” Ariola said, elaborating on the comment in an interview with City Limits.
“Despite Grillo’s alleged role in the insurrection,” the Daily News reported, “he still serves as the Queens Republican Party’s leader for the borough’s 24th Assembly District, according to its website.” Ariola told the paper she wasn’t the one who deleted the online images.
Singh called Ariola’s “radical” comments “ironic.”
“What’s heartbreaking about what my opponent said about non-citizens, and calling me a ‘radical,’ is that she goes to spaces where non-citizens celebrate, and pray, and live and have small businesses,” Singh said. “And she asks them for their vote. And that is heartbreaking to me, and actually disrespectful, because now she’s calling me a radical for wanting those same people to support her, to be able to participate in municipal elections. So it’s ironic and hypocritical.”
“I’m the first Guyanese and Punjabi person to win the Democratic primary for City Council,” Singh added. “Our communities have run before but we’ve never won a primary. This is a really huge race in so many ways.”
City Limits, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to investigative journalism that has informed and empowered New Yorkers for four and a half decades, invites the public to join us at our 45th anniversary celebration this fall.
The event, to take place with both in-person and virtual attendance options on November 18, will also mark the launch of the City Limits’ Hall of Fame, honoring four New York community leaders for their contributions to justice, media, housing, and economic development.
Our distinguished inductees are:
Afua Atta-Mensah, former executive director for the grassroots organizing group Community Voices Heard (CVH)
Jenna Flanagan, journalist and host of The WNET Group’s award-winning news program MetroFocus
Christine Quinn, president & CEO for family shelter and supportive housing provider Win
Kathryn Wylde, president & CEO for the business advocacy nonprofit Partnership for New York City
Previous City Limits honorees: Wayne Barrett, Preet Bharara, Adam Blumenthal, Richard Buery, Angela Fernandez, Laura Flanders, Henry Garrido, Elizabeth Cooke Levy, Gabe Pressman, Tom Robbins, and Sean Straub, are also members of the City Limits’ Hall of Fame.
“We are delighted to welcome our previous City Limits honorees into the City Limits’ Hall of Fame,” said Executive Director Marjorie W. Martay.
City Limits 45th Anniversary Celebration & Hall of Fame Inductionticket sales, donations and sponsorships will go directly to supporting the probing, in-depth journalism thatCity Limitsproduces each day. This year we are also raising funds to launch fellowships of $25,000 each, named in honor of two remarkable City Limits contributors:
The Jarrett Murphy Fellowship in Climate & Health Reporting will support a journalist’s work in those two important subject areas, named for City Limits’ longtime editor Jarrett Murphy, who led our newsroom for more than a decade.
The Mark Edmiston Fellowship in Media & Business Innovation willsupport an emerging business leader to focus on City Limits’s new product initiatives on strategic business development. It is named for media veteran Mark Edminston, longtime chair of City Limits’ Board of Trustees.
“For decades, City Limits’ reporters and editors have had the privilege of telling New Yorkers’ stories, examining our city’s policies and holding our local leaders accountable,” said Executive Editor Jeanmarie Evelly. “Your support is essential to our future, and to ensure we can keep doing that important work.”
Founded in 1976 in the midst of New York’s fiscal crisis, City Limits exists to inform democracy and empower citizens to create a more just city. What began 45 years ago as a newsletter for housing organizers has grown into an award-winning newsroom with a full-time staff of eight.
In addition to in-depth coverage of housing, homelessness, climate resiliency, aging, government policy, and more. City Limits runs a journalism training program for high school students, operates the Voices of New York project, as well as Una Ciudad Sin Límites, a Spanish-language reporting initiative.
As a non-profit, City Limits relies on foundation support, sponsorships, advertising, and donations. We must meet our $300,000 fundraising goal with this celebration in order to continue serving New York City for the next 45 years and beyond.
For more information about the anniversary celebration, please contact Greis Torres at Greis@citylimits.org.
