Five-year sentence for man in Ohio slave labor case

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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — A judge on Thursday handed a
five-year prison term to the first of four people sentenced for
participating in the enslavement of a mentally disabled woman held for
two years with her young child in northeast Ohio.
Daniel Brown
pleaded guilty last year to a single conspiracy charge and agreed to
cooperate with the investigation. He was sentenced by Judge Benita
Pearson in federal court in Youngstown.
Brown, 34, and three
others were charged in connection with the enslavement and beating of
the woman. Prosecutors said she was recruited and targeted along with
her daughter as part of a plot to obtain the woman’s government benefits
and steal her pain medication.
Prosecutors also contend the woman
was hit badly enough to require a hospital visit for pain medicine,
which the defendants then took from her. They said the woman was forced
to use her public assistance money to buy groceries and cigarettes for
the defendants.
The victims were taunted and threatened with pit
bulls and snakes, forced to sleep in unsafe and unsanitary conditions,
had their access to the bathroom restricted and were prevented from
eating regular meals, prosecutors said, citing trial testimony and court
documents.
One woman has pleaded guilty to various charges, and a man and his girlfriend were convicted at trial
last week.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — A judge on Thursday handed a
five-year prison term to the first of four people sentenced for
participating in the enslavement of a mentally disabled woman held for
two years with her young child in northeast Ohio.
Daniel Brown
pleaded guilty last year to a single conspiracy charge and agreed to
cooperate with the investigation. He was sentenced by Judge Benita
Pearson in federal court in Youngstown.
Brown, 34, and three
others were charged in connection with the enslavement and beating of
the woman. Prosecutors said she was recruited and targeted along with
her daughter as part of a plot to obtain the woman’s government benefits
and steal her pain medication.
Prosecutors also contend the woman
was hit badly enough to require a hospital visit for pain medicine,
which the defendants then took from her. They said the woman was forced
to use her public assistance money to buy groceries and cigarettes for
the defendants.
The victims were taunted and threatened with pit
bulls and snakes, forced to sleep in unsafe and unsanitary conditions,
had their access to the bathroom restricted and were prevented from
eating regular meals, prosecutors said, citing trial testimony and court
documents.
One woman has pleaded guilty to various charges, and a man and his girlfriend were convicted at trial
last week.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.

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