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Woman Who Enslaved Sri Lankan Servant In Hudson, Passaic Homes Gets 70 Months In Fed Pen

A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a woman with homes in Secaucus and Woodland Park to nearly six years in prison for holding a Sri Lankan national against her will for more than nine years while forcing her to marry her and work without pay as a domestic servant.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HIS)

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HIS)

 Photo Credit: COURTESY: ice.gov
Jerry DeMarco
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In addition to the 70-month prison term, U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler sentenced Alia Imad Faleh Al Hunaity, 44, to three years of supervised release and ordered her to pay restitution of $1.2 million.

Jurors convicted Hunaity – also known as “Alia Al Qaternah” -- of forced labor, alien harboring for financial gain and marriage fraud following a six-day trial in U.S. District Court in Camden last May.

Hunaity brought the victim to the United States on a temporary visa in 2009 to provide domestic services, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said.

According to Carpenito, Hunaity:

  • "caused the victim to overstay the victim’s visa, and the victim remained in the United States illegally, living exclusively with Hunaity for more than nine years;
  • "forced the victim to work without pay, and limited the victim’s interactions with the outside world;
  • "forced the victim to marry Hunaity for the purpose of obtaining legal residence for the victim so that the victim could continue to work without pay for Hunaity."

Carpenito credited special agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Newark Division and the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General New York Region with the investigation leading to the indictment and conviction.

Handling the case for the government was Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Macurdy and Trial Attorney Kate Hill of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.

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