YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio woman convicted along with
her boyfriend of enslaving a mentally disabled woman in their home for
nearly two years through intimidation, threats and abuse was sentenced
Thursday to 32 years in federal prison, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Jessica
Hunt, 33, was convicted in March of forced labor, conspiracy to defraud
the U.S. and conspiracy to illegally obtain prescription drugs.
Her attorneys and the federal prosecutor’s office didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment
on the sentencing.
Hunt’s
boyfriend, 28-year-old Jordie Callahan, was sentenced Tuesday to 30
years in federal prison for those same charges. Both are from Ashland,
about 70 miles southwest of Cleveland.
"This is one of the more
disturbing cases we have come across," U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach
said in a statement. "These defendants richly deserve their sentences."
The
couple was accused of holding the woman captive from early 2011 to late
2012. Prosecutors alleged that they threatened to harm the woman’s
young daughter if the woman did not do chores, shop and clean up after
their pit bull dogs. The couple also used the dogs and a python to
threaten the woman into complying, prosecutors said.
The couple’s
attorneys have argued that government witnesses were unreliable,
including the victim in the case, who suffers from the effects of a
traumatic brain injury suffered in a car accident. The woman had
numerous opportunities to tell people she was being mistreated,
including appointments at social service agencies, attorneys for Hunt
and Callahan have said.
After the woman was caught stealing a
candy bar in late 2012, she told police she wanted to go to jail because
people were being mean to her. Prosecutors say the couple lured her
into the home knowing she received government assistance.
Prosecutors
alleged that Callahan had sex with the woman and threatened to kill her
if she told anyone. The couple also were accused of injuring the woman
and forcing her to go to the emergency room so they could take any
painkillers that would be prescribed to her, trial testimony and
documents showed.
Two more people were convicted in the case for
helping the couple enslave the woman. They pleaded guilty and agreed to
testify at the trial. Dezerah McGuire, 33, formerly Dezerah Silsby,
received a 45-month prison sentence in April. Her boyfriend, Daniel
Brown, 35, received a five-year sentence in March.