LAWFUEL – The Law Newswire – Three Miami area women were charged today with forcing a Haitian girl into involuntary servitude for almost six (6) years, Assistant Attorney General Wan Kim of the Civil Rights Division, R. Alexander Acosta of the Southern District of Florida, Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Robert Parker, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department, announced today.
According to the three (3) count Indictment, sisters Maude Paulin and Claire Telasco, and their mother Evelyn Theodore, conspired to engage in human trafficking and forced labor from 1999 to 2005. The defendants allegedly forced the victim, an orphan, to work as a domestic servant in their Miami-area homes under inhumane conditions and with no compensation, using physical force, threats of deportation, and isolation from the public to extract the victim’s labor.
Additionally, the Indictment charges Maude Paulin, her ex-husband, Saintfort Paulin, and Evelyn Theodore with alien harboring for commercial advantage and private financial gain. If convicted of all charges, Maude Paulin and Evelyn Theodore and Claire Telasco each face up to twenty (20) years imprisonment. Saintfort Paulin faces up to ten (10) years imprisonment. Each charge also carries a maximum fine of $250,000 and a maximum term of post-release supervision of three (3) years.
The prosecution of individuals involved in human trafficking is a top priority of the Justice Department. Since 2001, the Justice Department has charged more than 300 human traffickers and secured more than 200 convictions. From 2001 through 2005, the Justice Department convicted over twice as many persons for trafficking compared to the previous five years.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Detectives of the Miami-Dade Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Edward Chung, Trial Attorney from the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice and Brent Tantillo, Assistant United States Attorney from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/ or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov/.
