Sentencing delayed for Hawaii farm owners who imported Thai workers for forced labor
By APMonday, July 19, 2010
Sentencing delayed in Hawaii forced labor case
HONOLULU — The sentencing of the owners of Hawaii’s second-largest fruit and vegetable farm who were convicted of importing laborers from Thailand to force them to work has been delayed for two months.
Chief U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway heard requests by Aloun Farms President Alec Souphone Sou and his brother, Aloun Farms Vice President Mike Mankone Sou, to stagger their incarceration so their business wouldn’t be damaged.
Mollway wasn’t sure, however, if the brothers stood by the guilty pleas they entered in January, according to KHON-TV.
The brothers pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring with Thai labor recruiters to bring 44 Thai nationals to Hawaii and enticing them to come to Aloun Farms with false promises of lucrative jobs.
Information from: KHON-TV, khon.com
