Upon being interrogated, the couple confessed to the crime saying they sneaked in the woman to help them take care of their two young boys. They also admitted to not paying her minimum wage of $20, an equivalent of N6,295 per week. The slave was meant to work around the clock and take care of their homeThe Nigerian woman smuggled into the US was a 54-year-old woman said to be Ibechem’s mother. His real mother is late; her passport was used to sneak the other woman into US unlawfully.
"I felt trapped. I thought I was going to die," the woman, who did not appear, said in a letter read on Thursday in federal court.
Prosecutors say she was cheated out of about $205,000 in wages; that is an equivalent of N64.5m. Ibechem's attorney said her family members in Nigeria were sent money.
"The nanny essentially became a slave," District Court Judge Edward Smith stated.
John Ibechem tried to justify his actions by saying he wouldn't treat anyone like an indentured servant.
"That's not my nature. That's not in my family's nature." he said.
The Nigerian couple has decided to pay the nanny $50,000 (N15.7m) as part of a plea deal. The couple's lawyer, Defense attorney Gilbert Scutti said "I'm not going to say it was all roses when she was here, but we are not talking about physical abuse, sexual abuse or deprivation of liberty"
.Nigerians are fearless when it comes to doing some things sha
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