Jury trial set for November 9
In an unusual move, federal District Judge Susan Oki Mollway this morning rejected the plea agreement signed off on by Sou brothers Alec and Mike, owners of Aloun Farms, and U.S. Prosecutor Susan French. The reason was that the brothers disputed some of the facts in the case.
The plea agreement had stipulated that they plead guilty to count one out of three counts. In return, the federal government had agreed not to charge them with the other two counts. When Judge Mollway rejected the plea agreement, the brothers withdrew their count one guilty plea.
Prosecutor French stated that the brothers could not withdraw their plea of guilty under the terms of the plea agreement. The judge responded that because it was she who had rejected the plea agreement, and it had not been rejected at the brothers' request, they could. French indicated that the matter might be brought up in court later.
In many court cases, the government pressures a deal with defendants by offering a plea agreement and agreeing not to go for the maximum penalty. Defendants, who normally can't afford the tremendous costs of going to trial, whereas the government has no such problem, will accede to a plea agreement to keep from losing almost all their earthly possessions, losing their businesses, being ruined financially for years and doing a long prison term besides. Often part of the agreement is a gag order on the defendants so that the public at large doesn't learn of the circumstances.
That goes for civil trials too, where cases are often settled out of court and the corporation that settles puts in place an iron-clad gag order as a condition of the opposition being paid off or not having to continue a costly legal fight. That way the public doesn't get whiff of the company's dirty laundry.
Now Mike and Alec Sou are subject to all three counts that were threatened by Prosecutor French and perhaps more. The judge explained to the Sous that they may find themselves in worse circumstances because of today's ruling.
Important to the case, although there may have been no testimony about it, is the fact that the Thai farm workers who are acting as witnesses against the Sou brothers had visas that had expired and were not renewed by the government after they had been at Aloun Farms just a few months. The expectation of both they and the Sou brothers had been from the beginning that the visas would be renewed so that they could fulfill their three-year contracts. To both their and the Sou brothers' horror, the visas were not renewed. With both the Thai workers and the Sou brothers in a very bad and unexpected situation, the brothers made the decision to ask the workers to leave the farm rather than turn them in as required by law (one of the original three counts against them that the government hasn't pressed — so far).
Rawi Siriluang, one of the workers, says that Mike Sou told the group, "I know you had to pay a lot to come here. I feel for you. If you don’t leave the farm, the police will arrest you. Vacate the house by tomorrow." (FBI interview Document 64-49 Exhibit 76 p. 46-7 Rawi Siriluang)
The workers dispersed and remained in the U.S.
As a result of this case, former Aloun Farms workers testifying against the Sous are getting what they desperately wanted: legal permission to live and work in the U.S. The price is helping the federal government press human trafficking charges against their former employers.
This is not an isolated case of foreigners with an unstable or nonexistent visa pressing criminal charges of abuse against Americans or legal immigrants and consequently being able to remain in the U.S.
An acquaintance recently told me of his Thai wife, who was about to lose her legal status in this country (they were close to instituting divorce proceedings), taking out a temporary restraining order against him. He insists he never abused her. But as a result of her charges of abuse and the TRO, he says, his now ex-wife got what she was desperate to have: legal permission to remain in Hawaii and the U.S.
You can read more about people being victimized by non-Americans intent on staying here by hook or crook here and here.
To get a much better picture of what is really happening in the Sou case, see The Sting — 2010.
Copyright © 2010 by Pat Beekman. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given to the author and a link to this Hawaii Political Info story is included.
Links:
Sou Brothers Walk Away from Plea Agreement [KITV]
Sou brothers to begin trial in November for human trafficking [KHON2]
T-Visa Laws and Trafficking "A T-visa gives temporary non-immigrant status to victims of 'severe forms of human trafficking' on the condition that they help law enforcement officials investigate and prosecute crimes related to human trafficking." [WomensLaw]
