Chinese national, two U.S. citizens face forced labor charges in Georgia

A federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia has indicted three people on forced labor charges connected to a Georgia flooring manufacturer, according to the Justice Department.

Zhu Chen, 60, and Jiayi Chen, 31, both U.S. citizens, and Jianjun Lu, 55, a Chinese national, were charged with forced labor and conspiracy to commit forced labor, prosecutors said. Zhu Chen was also charged with alien harboring. All three defendants reside in Cartersville, Georgia.

According to court documents, Zhu Chen worked with Jiayi Chen and Lu to recruit Chinese nationals under false pretenses, bringing them to the United States on B-1 and L-1 visas to work at Wellmade Industries, a flooring manufacturer in Georgia. Once the workers arrived, the defendants allegedly kept their immigration documents and had them work 12-hour shifts, six days a week, at the Wellmade Industries factory in Cartersville.

The defendants paid the victims less than promised and did not provide overtime pay or health benefits, according to the indictment. Prosecutors said the defendants also threatened the victims with deportation and the imposition of sizeable debts and subjected them to verbal, psychological and physical abuse. The victims were housed in residences owned by Wellmade even though they lacked legal status under their visas, according to court documents.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg for the Northern District of Georgia, and Special Agent in Charge Steven N. Schrank of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Atlanta office announced the charges.

Homeland Security Investigations in Dalton, Georgia; the Bartow County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations unit; and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are investigating the case, according to the Justice Department.

Trial Attorney Elizabeth Hutson of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Leanne Marek for the Northern District of Georgia are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.