March 11 (UPI) — A New Jersey woman was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for forcing a Sri Lankan woman to work for her in her home without pay for nine years, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
Alia Imad Faleh Al-Hunaity, 44, was sentenced to 70 months in prison and three years of supervised release for forcing the woman into unpaid labor, causing her to overstay her visa for nine years and forcing her into marriage so she could stay in the country.
Al-Hunaity was convicted on all counts against her on charges of forced labor, alien harboring for financial gain and marriage fraud in May.
Court documents said Al-Hunaity brought the woman to the United States from Sri Lanka on a temporary visa in 2009 to perform domestic work including forcing the woman to cook and clean her homes in Woodland Park and Seacaucus, N.J., without pay and care for her three children.
She limited the woman’s interactions with the outside world and required her to sleep on a bed in a public space in her home including the kitchen, the Justice Department said.
Al-Hunaity also forced the woman to marry her so she could obtain legal residence and Al-Huanity could continue to force her to take part in unpaid labor.
