A federal grand jury has indicted five people in connection with an alleged scheme in Georgia that used the H-2A agricultural visa program to bring in foreign farm workers who were then exploited, according to a newly unsealed indictment.
The defendants named in the indictment are Martha Aquino, 61; Evangelina Aquino De Galvan, 49; Julio Cervantes, 38; Marco Cervantes, 41; and Juan Felipe Romero-Lopez, 31, who is in the country illegally.
The H-2A program lets farms bring in foreign workers for agricultural jobs, with no cap on the number of visas issued each year.
Prosecutors say the defendants fraudulently obtained H-2A visas to bring the workers into the country. Once here, the workers were allegedly required to hand over payments to the defendants, who also took their passports and threatened them with violence if they tried to leave their farm jobs, according to the indictment.
When the workers’ visas expired, prosecutors allege the defendants let them stay in the country illegally and offered to transport them to other parts of the U.S. for additional work — as long as the workers kept paying them.
Charges and Arrests
Martha Aquino, Julio Cervantes, and Marco Cervantes have been arrested. Juan Felipe Romero-Lopez is already in federal custody on prior weapons charges. Evangelina Aquino De Galvan has not been apprehended and remains at large.
Aquino, Aquino De Galvan, and Julio Cervantes each face charges of conspiring to commit visa fraud, visa fraud, and encouraging and inducing aliens to enter the U.S. illegally for commercial advantage and private gain.
Marco Cervantes is charged with conspiring to commit visa fraud and visa fraud. Romero-Lopez faces charges of conspiring to commit visa fraud and being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.
U.S. Attorney Margaret E. Heap said her office would continue working with other agencies to protect workers and go after those who abuse the visa system.
“Those who exploit immigrant workers and abuse the H-2A visa program for their own financial gain will be held accountable,” Heap said. “We will continue to partner with our federal, state and local agencies to protect these workers, safeguard the integrity of the H-2A program and prosecute those who turn a lawful employment program into a vehicle for profit and abuse.”
