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MILWAUKEE, WI — American gas station owner in Milwaukee, Wis., Harshinder Bhatia, has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of forcing an Indian woman to work.
Bhatia, who was accused of forcing and threatening an Indian woman to work between September 2009 and April 2011, has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of “harboring an alien for financial gain,” the first count in a three-count indictment.
The remaining two counts were dismissed as a result of the plea deal, media reports said.
The charge carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years, up to a $250,000 fine, a mandatory special assessment of $100 and a maximum of three years of supervised release.
The indictment says the victim in this case travelled to the US with family in 2007 for a wedding in New York, staying there for five or six months before returning to India.
With the help of Bhatia’s India-based brother, in March of 2009, the victim, the victim’s father and the victim’s younger brother flew to Chicago on tourist visas. They were picked up at the airport by Bhatia, and taken to a duplex near 64th and Villard, where the victim lived until April 2011.
She and her father began working for Bhatia at different gas stations shortly after their arrival. The victim worked for Bhatia 12 hours per day for seven days per week for two years, and they had “no choice” but to live in the housing Bhatia provided because they had no money or wherewithal to go elsewhere.
Federal prosecutors say Bhatia “physically and emotionally threatened” the woman, causing her to believe if she didn’t perform this labor, she would suffer serious harm.
The indictment charges that this crime involved aggravated sexual abuse and was furthered by Bhatia possessing the victim’s passport.