Three charged with human trafficking on Alachua County farms

By Karen Voyles
Staff writer

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A federal indictment unsealed Tuesday afternoon alleges dozens of Haitian nationals were the victims of human trafficking in 2008 when they were delivered to rural Alachua County and forced to work on area farms.

Three people were indicted on multiple charges in the case and additional arrests are possible, according to investigators. Those indicted, all three Haitian nationals, were identified as Cabioch Bontemps, 34, a longtime farm worker in the Lacrosse area, and Miami-area residents Willy Paul Edouard, 47, and Carline Ceneus, 32 who is also known as Carline Bontemps. All three were charged conspiring to commit forced labor and visa fraud. Ceneus is also charged with document servitude.

Bontemps and Ceneus had both been arrested by Tuesday afternoon while Edouard was classified as a fugitive by federal officials.

Federal prosecutors allege in the indictment that once the Haitian workers arrived in Miami, they were denied access to their own passports and visas, effectively preventing them from going anywhere other than the farms where they were to work.

The indictment also alleges that the workers were underfed, "supplied substandard housing and few beds, and denied necessary medical care, causing the workers to suffer chronic hunger, weight loss, illnesses and fatigue."

At least one worker told investigators about being forced to work in fields recently sprayed with chemicals so harsh they left her with permanent scars.

According to the indictment, those who complained about the conditions were threatened with being deported and became fearful of the three co-conspirators.

The Haitian workers got to North Florida after Ceneus, Bontemps and Edouard apparently schemed to entice them to leave Haiti by falsely promising them lucrative jobs for three years under the U.S. guest worker program.

To cover their scheme, Ceneus, Bontemps and Edouard are accused in the indictment of telling the workers to hide when inspectors were on the farms, forcing them to put on a dancing and drum show for inspectors, and telling the workers to look happy or they would be sent back to Haiti.

About two years ago, according to the indictment, Bontemps took the workers to visit an area Wal-Mart store "to hide the workers from the inspectors because at the time there were no crops to harvest and the workers were not being paid."

In another instance, Bontemps is accused of interpreting for federal inspectors who were on the farms in Alachua County.

Bontemps later "told the Haitian workers that federal inspectors said (Ceneus and Bontemps) only had to feed the Haitian workers the first week and afterwards the Haitian workers were responsible for their own food and housing," according to the indictment.

Bontemps was in court in Gainesville on Tuesday to make his first appearance before Chief U.S. District Judge Stephan P. Mickle. The judge told Bontemps the hearing was to determine whether he could be released until trial and not about the facts of the case.

"I'm not guilty of these charges," the shackled Bontemps told Mickle.

Although he was not charged specifically with a sex crime, the indictment identified Bontemps as the man who raped one of the workers and told her not to say anything or he would make sure she would not be allowed to return to the U.S. in subsequent years.

The indictment appears to indicate the alleged conspiracy involved two groups of Haitian workers, with the first group containing about 50 people.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, if convicted, Ceneus faces a maximum prison sentence of 25 years while Edouard and Bontemps each face 10 years in prison.

During Bontemps' court hearing, his longtime employer, Alachua County farmer Steven Davis, urged Mickle to release Bontemps because he said he is an integral part of the Steven Davis Farms pea and bean harvesting operations -- www.stevendavisfarms.com -- and this is the peak season for harvesting.

Davis identified his operations as being headquartered at 1102 N.W. County Road 233 and he said that Bontemps has been a part-time worker for 14 or 15 years and an important full-time worker for the past 2 1/2 to three years. According to Davis, the Haitians currently working on the 2,000 to 3,000 acres he is farming this year all report to Bontemps.

"All these people (Haitian workers) look up to him," Davis said "All these people respect him. All these people worship him."

Mickle agreed to release Bontemps with the understanding that he agree to electronic monitoring -- wearing an ankle bracelet -- to track his movements.

In a news release about the case, the U.S. Attorney's Office said the indictment was issued after an extensive investigation involving the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General-Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office.