Foreign Nationals Operating Nebraska Motel Plead Guilty to Harboring, Exploiting Illegal Alien

Two foreign nationals operating a motel in Kimball, Nebraska pleaded guilty to harboring and exploiting an illegal alien from India who they forced to work for them without pay.

Vishnubhai Chaudhari, 50-years-old, and Leelabahen Chaudhari, 44-years-old, admitted to one count of conspiracy and one count of harboring an illegal alien for financial gain, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.

“Motivated by their greed, the defendants violated the immigration laws and exploited a vulnerable individual who lacked immigration status,” Acting Assisting Attorney General Gore of the Civil Rights Division said in a statement.

Court documents from the DOJ reveal the extent to which the two foreign nationals terrorized and exploited the illegal alien. Between 2011 and 2013, prosecutors say the foreign nationals harbored the illegal alien at their Super 8 Motel, forcing him to work extensive hours, seven days a week doing manual labor that included cleaning motel rooms and doing laundry, without any compensation.

The two foreign nationals also kept the illegal alien from leaving the job as they verbally and physically abused him. According to the DOJ, Vishnubhai Chaudhari told the illegal alien that if he left the motel, he would find him.

Leelabahen Chaudhari, according to the DOJ, would regularly attack the illegal alien. In one instance, Leelabahen slapped the illegal alien across the face multiple times for not cleaning a bathroom properly.

The two foreign nationals are expected to be sentenced in March 2018, where they will face up to 18 months in prison and deportation out of the United States after their sentence is completed. The illegal alien was paid $40,000 in restitution by the foreign nationals under the guilty plea deal.