Suburban Chicago woman gets 6.5 years for labor trafficking
April 20, 2021 8:46AM AKDT
This March 29, 2019 photo provided by the Kendall County Sheriff’s Department in Yorkville, Ill., shows Concepcion Malinek. Malinek has pleaded guilty to a federal labor charge for helping several people from Guatemala enter the U.S. and then forbidding them from leaving her home until they paid off their debt to her. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Malinek of Cicero, Ill., pleaded guilty Tuesday, July 28, 2020, to one count of labor trafficking. Prosecutors said she admitted helping 10 Guatemalan immigrants with illegally entering the U.S. from 2009 to 2019. (Kendall County Sheriff’s Department via AP)
CHICAGO (AP) — A suburban Chicago woman has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to charges alleging she helped several people from Guatemala enter the U.S. illegally and forbid them from leaving her home until they paid off debts to her. Fifty-year-old Concepcion Malinek, of Cicero, was sentenced Tuesday after pleaded guilty last year to one count of labor trafficking. Prosecutors said that from 2009 to 2019, Malinek helped at least 10 Guatemalan immigrants enter the U.S. illegally and forced them to work in a factory to pay off their debts to her.
