CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – A Litchfield couple were sentenced Friday to nearly six years in prison after being convicted of forcing Jamaican laborers to work in their tree-cutting business.
Timothy Bradley, 43, and Kathleen O’Dell, 48, were convicted in August of taking the workers’ passports and visas, lying to them and reneging on promises about pay and housing.
They have 10 days to appeal their sentence. Their lawyers said they planned to do so.
“Luring foreigners to our shores with false promises, impressing them into labor, and withholding even the most basic of services is nothing short of modern day slavery,” said R. Alexander Acosta, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division.
They must together pay the four men more than $13,000 in restitution. Bradley must also pay the U.S. government $12,500 in penalties. Most of O’Dell’s fines were waived because she can’t afford to pay them.
A tearful Isis Latham, O’Dell’s daughter, said her mother and Bradley are innocent people who never kept anyone against their will, only made wrong decisions.
“My mother is nothing like a slave trader,” said Latham, 29. “We shouldn’t get sent to prison for our judgment calls.”
Latham said she believed her mother was being made an example of, noting that Martin Luther King Day is coming up on Monday.
“You can’t blame people today for the mistakes of people from a long time ago,” she said.
Lawyers for Bradley read comments from friends and family members depicting Bradley as an honest, hardworking man.
But his request to be released on bail pending appeal was denied by Judge Joseph DiClerico, who said Bradley might run off now that he knows he’s going to end up in prison. O’Dell’s bail request was also denied.
In an effort to win their client a reduced sentence, lawyers for O’Dell described her as a kind woman who would drive the Jamaicans places when they wanted to use the phone, and whose role was minimal compared to Bradley’s.
Prosecutors, however, said O’Dell was the “enforcer”, who threatened the Jamaicans and was an equal participant in the scheme.
The couple’s lawyers portrayed the Jamaicans as inexperienced and disgruntled workers who did not understand why taxes were taken from their checks, refused to wear hard hats and did not take responsibility for their own living quarters or medical care.
Two of the workers were in court for the sentencing but refused to comment .
AP-ES-01-16-04 1603EST
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