Mother-In-Law And Sister-In-Law Guilty Of Human-Trafficking

In the first trial of its kind in New York state, a mother and daughter from Ramapo were found guilty of labor trafficking and assault in the case of a young woman from India who testified she was brutalized by her husband and his family when she came to the United States following an arranged marriage. Judge William K. Nelson, who oversaw the non-jury trial, found Parveen Jagota, 57, and Rajani Jagota, 31, guilty of two of three counts of labor trafficking, specifically of confiscating the 25-year-old victim's passport and Green Card, and threatening her with physical violence if she did not comply with their wishes. Both counts carry a maximum sentence of seven years. The two women, respectively the mother-in-law and sister-in-law of the victim, were also found guilty of second degree assault, a violent felony which carries a maximum sentence of seven years.