United States v. Farrell

Robert and Angelita Farrell (defendants) recruited nine Filipino women to work as housekeepers at their hotel, deceiving immigration officials to obtain temporary visas and then forcing the women to pay their own visa and travel costs, which the Farrells then padded with excessive fees for housing, transportation, and personal items. Once the women arrived, the Farrells confiscated their passports and visas, paid them far below what was promised, and used the resulting debt to force them into second jobs working 17-hour days, all while forbidding socializing, verbally abusing them, and threatening deportation for noncompliance. The women eventually alerted authorities. A jury convicted the Farrells of peonage, conspiracy to impose peonage, and document servitude, and they appealed, arguing the evidence was insufficient.