May 12, 2006 5:13 pm US/Mountain
Wife Pleads Guilty To Charges In Slavery Case
By Jon Sarche, Associated Press Writer
AURORA, Colo. (AP) ―
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Homaidan Al-Turki and his wife, Sarah Khonaizan, are accused of enslavement.
CBS4
A woman accused of keeping an Indonesian nanny as a virtual slave for four years pleaded guilty to a theft charge in state court Friday for failing to pay thousands of dollars in wages.
Sarah Khonaizan, 35, had also been charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment and extortion but prosecutors dropped those counts in exchange for her guilty plea on the felony theft charge.
On Tuesday, Khonaizan pleaded guilty to federal charges of harboring an illegal immigrant.
Prosecutors and FBI agents accused Khonaizan and her husband, Homaidan Al-Turki, both Saudi citizens, of hiding the woman's passport and forcing her to cook, clean and care for their five children in their suburban Aurora home.
She slept on a mattress on the basement floor and was paid less than $2 a day, an FBI affidavit said.
State prosecutors also alleged that Al-Turki sexually abused the woman repeatedly. The Associated Press is not identifying her because of the sexual assault allegations.
Al-Turki's cases are pending. He faces federal charges of forced labor, document servitude and harboring an illegal immigrant and state charges of sexual assault, kidnapping, false imprisonment, extortion and theft.
Arapahoe County Assistant District Attorney Ann Tomsic told Arapahoe County District Court Judge Mark Hannen that Khonaizan and Al-Turki paid the nanny a total of about $1,500.
Last month, the couple agreed to pay the nanny about $64,000 in wages to settle a U.S. Labor Department lawsuit.
Khonaizan's plea agreement in state court recommends probation with the possibility of 90 days jail. The theft charge normally carries a sentence of two to 24 years in prison and a fine of $3,000 to $750,000.
Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 11.
On the federal charge, Khonaizan faces probation or up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $20,000. Sentencing is scheduled for July 28 in that case.
Defense attorney Forrest Lewis said Khonaizan plans to return voluntarily to Saudi Arabia after she completes her sentences.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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