http://www.wcbs880.com/Husband-Gets-3-Years-in-LI-Slave-Case/2498660
Husband Gets 3 Years in LI Slave Case


CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) -- A millionaire convicted of helping his wife keep two Indonesian housekeepers as virtual slaves was sentenced Friday to more than three years in prison, ending a trial that shed light on the often little-seen exploitation and abuse of domestic workers.

International perfume maker Mahender Sabhnani, 51, was sentenced to a prison term of three and one-third years and fined $12,500. He was convicted in December on a 12-count federal indictment that included forced labor, conspiracy, involuntary servitude and harboring aliens.

The victims testified that they were beaten with brooms and umbrellas [NY Post], slashed with knives, and forced to climb stairs and take freezing showers for misdeeds that included sleeping late or stealing food from the trash because they were poorly fed.

On Thursday, Sabhnani tearfully watched as his wife, Varsha, was sentenced to 11 years in prison [WCBS 880]. On Friday, she dabbed her eyes as she saw her husband meet his own fate.

Prosecutors contended Varsha Sabhnani was primarily responsible for inflicting years of abuse on the poorly educated servants.

WATCH: Millionaire Couple Found Guilty

Her husband, they said, allowed the conduct to take place and benefited from the work the women performed in their $2 million home; he operated the business from an adjacent office.

``The Mr. didn't know about it. The Mr. was nice. The Mr. didn't hear. The Mr. didn't shout,'' said defense attorney Stephen Scaring, recounting the victims' testimony while arguing for home confinement instead of prison.

``He was the master,'' countered Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Lesko. ``By holding slaves, Mahender Sabhnani violated every notion of freedom that we enjoy in America.''

``He had to know what was going on under his roof, and he needs to be punished,'' the prosecutor said.

Judge Arthur Spatt conceded that Mahender Sabhnani did not personally inflict abuse, but said he must have been aware of it.

``He's a success story: The immigrant who came to this country and succeeded in business. He had to know all these dreadful things and did nothing,'' said the judge.

The husband is originally from India, and the wife from Indonesia. Both are naturalized U.S. citizens.

One of the workers arrived in the Sabhnanis' Muttontown home in 2002; the second came in 2005. The Sabhnanis immediately confiscated the servants' passports and other travel documents, the women testified.

Prosecutors said the ``punishment that escalated into a cruel form of torture'' ended in May 2007, when one of the women fled in the early morning hours of Mother's Day. She wandered into a Dunkin' Donuts wearing nothing but rags, and employees called police.

The husband pleaded for freedom at his sentencing [NY Sun] , saying the couple's four children wonder, ```Who's going to help us? How can we do it on our own?' Every day, I look at fear in their eyes.''

The grown children sat stoically in the front row as he spoke.

Scaring said the prosecution had taken a toll on the Sabhnanis and their children.

``This is a case that has been devastating to this family,'' said Scaring. ``They are mocked, they are ridiculed, they are laughed at.''

A hearing on whether the couple must forfeit their Long Island mansion was postponed until July 11

another mere slap on the hand for such atrocities !

Maybe now they will get a taste of what it was like for those poor girls. How anyone, especially someone who comes from a country where they know all to well about human slavery, could do this to a human being is beyond my comprehension. It just makes me sick how some of these rich people can take advantage of humans like they do!

I hope they are deported as well!
That sentence seems awful lenient!

it is just beyond comprehension

how this can happen

& how little is done about it

Indian society is extremely clasist. This is normal behavior for them!

Castes are hereditary systems of social occupation, endogamy, social culture, economic class, and political power. Discrimination based on a person's caste is prevalent mainly in parts of Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Japan) and Africa. Today, it is commonly associated with the Indian caste system. In a caste society, the assignment of individuals to places in the social hierarchy is decided by social group and cultural heritage. At the same time, the social groups, while promoting their own exclusiveness and endogamy, are traditionally mindful of the general and peculiar roles of the other groups. UNICEF estimates that discrimination based on caste affects 250 million people worldwide.

yeah...I'd like to see them

deported to the bottom of the ocean

Think about that everytime you talk to a telephone customer service person!!

And they outsource those jobs claiming they are more educated than Americans!

LIES!!!!!

fined only 12,500 stinking dollars


what filthy judge got paid off for this???

They should shave their heads and make them walk backwards to India!

i know you are trying to make me laugh , Fanta


and i appreciate it ,


but ohhhhhhh God it is so hard to be happy


when so many people are being treated so terribly

money they have money

now if they made 60000 a year they would have been charged with

KIDNAPPING AND UNLAWFUL CONFINEMENT

but what do i know

They don't outsource because of education. They outsource because they can pay the employees a fraction of what they have to pay people here.