INDONESIAN NATIONAL PLEADS GUILTY TO HARBORING DOMESTIC WORKER

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department today announced that an Indonesian national pleaded guilty to harboring an undocumented woman from Indonesia who worked for the defendant and his wife as a domestic servant.

Beginning in 1996, defendant Herri Nasution and his wife, Mariska Trisanti, arranged to bring a young Indonesian woman to Los Angeles on a tourist visa. They told the woman that she would work for the couple for two years as a nanny and housekeeper. When the victim arrived in the United States, however, Trisanti confiscated her passport and through threats and physical abuse, forced her to work for 17 hours or more per day, seven days a week. The victim received virtually no compensation for her labor after the first year of her employment.

“That involuntary servitude exists anywhere, in any form, shocks the conscience of all Americans,” said R. Alexander Acosta, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. “The Justice Department is committed to stamping out this ancient evil.”

Earlier, on March 25, 2004, Trisanti pleaded guilty to holding another domestic servant during the same time period in a condition of involuntary servitude. Trisanti had compelled both victims' labor through repeated threats and physical abuse. Trisanti threatened that if the victims attempted to escape, they would be arrested and put in jail.

In the spring of 2000, Trisanti took a trip to Indonesia and left the two domestic servants in the custody of Nasution. During this time, the two victims fled the household.

Sentencing for Nasution is scheduled for August 16, 2004. Sentencing for Trisanti is scheduled to occur on July 12, 2004. Nasution faces a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. Trisanti faces a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000. Both Nasution and Trisanti could also be ordered to make restitution to the victim.

The Bush Administration has made fighting human trafficking a significant priority. Since FY 2001, the Justice Department has charged 140 human traffickers, a three-fold increase over the previous three years, and secured convictions of 93 defendants, nearly twice the number convicted during the previous three years. Over the same period, the Justice Department has initiated 283 new trafficking investigations, nearly triple the number opened in the previous three years.

This case was investigated by agents of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI and the Department of Labor. The case was prosecuted by attorneys from the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice and the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.

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