DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

Acting United States Attorney Edward R. Ryan
Western District of North Carolina

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2009

CONTACT: Suellen Pierce
704.338.3120
Fax: 704.227.0264

FORMER UNION COUNTY RESIDENT CHARGED FEDERALLY IN NUMEROUS COUNTS ALLEGING FORCED LABOR, DOCUMENT SERVITUDE AND HARBORING ILLEGAL ALIENS FOR COMMERCIAL OR PRIVATE GAIN Federal Indictment Filed in May 2006 - Defendant Extradited to U.S.

Following Arrest in Bulgaria in July 2009 CHARLOTTE, NC - MERCEDES FARQUHARSON, 63, formerly of Monroe, Union County, North Carolina, and Marbella, Spain, has been extradited to the United States from Bulgaria to face charges contained in a federal indictment returned by a federal grand jury sitting in Charlotte. Farquharson is charged in multiple counts alleging violations of the federal laws prohibiting forced labor, document servitude, and harboring illegal aliens for commercial or private gain. The charges are contained in an indictment originally filed and sealed on May 24,2006.

Today’s announcement is made by Edward R. Ryan, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, joined by Owen D. Harris, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI for North Carolina, Union County District Attorney John C. Snyder, III, Union County Sheriff Edwin G. “Eddie” Cathey, and the U.S. Marshals Service.

In July 2009, Bulgarian Officials arrested Farquharson and on July 29, 2009 the Regional Court in Burgas/Bulgaria approved immediate extradition to the United States in order for the defendant to answer the pending charges in the Western District of North Carolina. Farquharson made her initial appearance before a federal magistrate judge in Charlotte today. She was ordered held in federal custody pending a detention hearing which is currently set for 10:25 a.m. on Thursday, September 3, 2009.

The indictment against Farquharson alleges in Count One that from about 1995 until December 2005, within the Western District of North Carolina, Farquharson, and others, conspired to commit the offenses of forced labor, document servitude, and harboring illegal aliens for commercial or private gain. In addition to the conspiracy count, Farquharson is also charged in seven additional substantive counts alleging forced labor (Counts Two and Three), document servitude (Counts Four and Five), and harboring (Counts Six and Seven). According to the allegations contained in the indictment, a copy of which is attached, Farquharson represented herself to three children as a religious deity with the power to enforce the laws of God, and convinced the biological mother of two of those children that she was a religious deity and that she should give her children to Farquharson. Farquharson is further alleged to have isolated the three children from the outside world by preventing them from attending school, and by preventing them from leaving her house, or from inviting outsiders into the house without her knowledge or permission. The indictment further alleges that Farquharson forced and coerced two of the children to perform uncompensated physical labor in and around her homes under harsh conditions, including abuse, creating a climate of fear that overbore their will to resist.

The indictment includes a Notice of Forfeiture and Finding of Probable Cause that Defendant Farquharson forfeit to the United States any property, real or personal, used or intended to be used to commit or to facilitate the offenses with which she is charged in the indictment.

If convicted of Count One, Farquharson faces a maximum statutory sentence of five years of imprisonment. If convicted of Counts Two and Three, Farquharson faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years of imprisonment, per count. If convicted of Counts Four - Seven, Farquharson faces a maximum Statutory sentence of five years of imprisonment, per count.

However, it is important to note that any sentence received upon conviction will be influenced by the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which the Court consults in order to determine each defendant’s actual sentence. Sentences are based upon a formula that takes into account the severity and characteristics of the offense and each defendant’s criminal history, if any.

The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations. In the American justice system, a person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty in a court of law.

MERCEDES FARQUHARSON
63 YOA
Formerly of Monroe, North Carolina