Moorestown Woman Sentenced For Abusing Immigrants Into Forced Labor

CAMDEN, NJ — A Moorestown woman was sentenced to federal prison last month for luring two women into the United States, confiscating their immigration documents and forcing them to work in her home around-the-clock.

Bolaji Bolarinwa, 51, was sentenced to 3 years, 9 months behind bars in Camden federal court.

Between 2015 and 2016, Bolarinwa lured two women into the United States with false promises, authorities said. She then coerced both victims to perform domestic labor and childcare services through physical harm, threats of violence, constant surveillance and psychological abuse, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The women worked around-the-clock every day for minimal pay, officials said. The victims lived and worked in Bolarinwa's home until October 2016, when one of them notified a professor at her college. The professor alerted the FBI.

"The defendant confiscated the victims' immigration documents and subjected them to threats, physical force, and mental abuse to coerce them to work long hours for minimal pay," Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, said in a statement. "This prosecution should send a strong message that such forced labor will not be tolerated in our communities."

Last year, a jury found Bolarinwa guilty of two counts of forced labor, two counts of domestic servitude and one count of alien harboring for financial gain.

Bolarinwa's husband was also convicted in the trial, but he was acquitted on appeal. Online court records do not indicate what factors led to the acquittal.

U.S. District Judge Karen M. Williams also sentenced Bolarinwa to three years of supervised release, a $35,000 fine and $87,518.72 in restitution for the victims.

Bolarinwa hails from Nigeria but is a U.S. citizen, the DOJ said.

Her listed attorney has not responded to Patch's request for comment as of this writing.