{"id":440015,"date":"2011-06-12T22:00:04","date_gmt":"2011-06-12T22:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/06\/12\/nigerian-woman-convicted-of-human-trafficking-in-usa\/"},"modified":"2011-06-12T22:00:04","modified_gmt":"2011-06-12T22:00:04","slug":"nigerian-woman-convicted-of-human-trafficking-in-usa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/nigerian-woman-convicted-of-human-trafficking-in-usa\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigerian woman convicted of human trafficking in USA"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A Nigerian,Bidemi Bello, 41, has been convicted in the USA by a federal jury on charges of two counts of forced labour,\u00a0two counts of trafficking for forced labour, one count of document\u00a0servitude, one count of alien harbouring, and two counts of making\u00a0false statements in a U.S. citizenship application. The trial lasted one week.<\/p>\n

Theformer Suwanee resident was convicted Friday in Atlanta on charges involving two people recruited to the area from Nigeria.<\/p>\n

U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a release:\u00a0\u201cThe evidence showed that this was a case of modern-day slavery hidden\u00a0within an expensive home in an upscale neighborhood. The two women who\u00a0were abused here thought they were going to be nannies; instead they\u00a0were treated inhumanely. The laws of the United States protect all\u00a0victims from such abuse, regardless of where they came from or how\u00a0they came to be in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bello recruited her first victim in 2001 and the second in 2004.<\/p>\n

The evidence showed that once in the United States, Bello became verbally and physically abusive to both young women, prosecutors said. She beat them for not cleaning well, beat them for not responding fast enough\u00a0to her crying child, and beat them if they talked back to\u00a0her. The women testified that Bello beat them with a large wooden\u00a0spoon, shoes, electric cords and with her hands. One young woman was\u00a0able to take pictures of her injuries with a disposable camera.<\/p>\n

Two witnesses, one a friend and one a relative of Bello, also\u00a0testified about the abuse they witnessed. One woman described seeing\u00a0one victim with bruises and swollen eyes from the defendant\u2019s abuse. Both\u00a0women advised Bello to stop abusing the girls, evidence shows.<\/p>\n

Bello refused to stop her abuse and\u00a0send the women home, telling her friend, \u201cI will not live in\u00a0fear.\u201d
This friend helped one victim escape by hiding her in the back of another woman\u2019s car, who covered her with\u00a0blankets, and drove her away. Bello then went back to Nigeria for\u00a0the second victim, evidence showed.<\/p>\n

Bello moved out of the United States during the investigation and\u00a0was indicted on the charges in September 2010. She was arrested at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston upon re-entering\u00a0the United States.<\/p>\n

Evidence also shows that the victims were sleep-deprived and forced to be on call for Bello\u2019s child all night. Bello\u00a0would not let the young women use modern appliances such as the\u00a0washing machine, dishwasher, or the lawn mower. The evidence showed\u00a0that Bello never sent the young women to school as she had promised\u00a0and never gave them any money for years of work.<\/p>\n

One victim saved up $60, given to her by friends of\u00a0Bello, and called a cab. She was assisted by pastors at a church in\u00a0Marietta after taking the cab to the church, evidence showed.<\/p>\n

Sentencing for Bello has been set for Aug. 24 before\u00a0U.S. District Judge William S. Duffey Jr. The two forced labor charges and the two labor trafficking charges carry a maximum\u00a0sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.\u00a0The two\u00a0document-servitude counts carry a maximum sentence of five years in\u00a0prison and a fine of up to $250,000.<\/p>\n

The alien-harboring\u00a0count carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of\u00a0up to $250,000.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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\nNigerian woman convicted of human trafficking in USA<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Nigerian,Bidemi Bello, 41, has been convicted in the USA by a federal jury on charges of two counts of forced labour,\u00a0two counts of trafficking for forced labour, one count of document\u00a0servitude, one count of alien harbouring, and two counts of making\u00a0false statements in a U.S. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":402429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-440015","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local-news"},"yoast_head":"\nNigerian woman convicted of human trafficking in USA - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/12\/nigerian-woman-convicted-of-human-trafficking-in-usa\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Nigerian woman convicted of human trafficking in USA - 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