Rancher May Face Civil Charges in ‘Slave’ Case : Labor: The district attorney considers seeking fines against the flower ranch owner accused of imprisoning workers.

Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury said Monday that he may file civil charges alleging unfair business practices by the owner of a Ventura County flower ranch where Mexican laborers allegedly were imprisoned behind barbed wire and forced to work for sub-minimum wages.

Bradbury said his office has begun an investigation that could result in penalties of up to $2,500 a day per worker against Edwin M. Ives, 53, who owns the Griffith-Ives Co. flower ranch in Somis.

Because 20 laborers have told authorities that they worked at the Somis compound for anywhere from 10 days to 20 months, fines requested by prosecutors could reach millions of dollars, Bradbury said.

As early as today, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles is expected to indict Ives, 53, four ranch overseers and an alleged smuggler for civil rights violations, slavery, counterfeiting documents and violation of federal migrant-labor laws, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Carol Gillam. All six were named in a criminal civil-rights complaint on Friday.

Bradbury said he probably will not pursue criminal charges because Ives and his employees could face stiffer sentences under federal law than under state law.

Ives was freed on $150,000 bond Friday, and three of his employees--Mauro Casares-Padilla, 64, Pedro Pinzon-Juarez and Rony Havive, both 30--were freed on $25,000 bond by U.S. Magistrate Venetta Tassopulos. All were released after posting the usual 10% of their bond amounts.

On Monday, however, ranch supervisor Alvaro Ruiz-Santiago remained in the federal detention center in Los Angeles after he failed to post a $12,500 cash bond ordered by Tassopulos.

Ruiz-Santiago had been kept in custody over the weekend because he refused to answer questions and help pretrial service workers determine what his bond should be, Gillam said.

Gillam asked Tassopulos to set a higher bond for Ruiz-Santiago than those of his co-workers. Gillam said Ruiz-Santiago had been living in the United States for just five years and posed a higher risk of flight than the others, who had lived in this country longer.

A sixth ranch employee, Josue David Pinzon-Juarez, was believed to be in Guatemala on Monday but had told friends that he would return by Tuesday, Gillam said.

Bradbury said his office will coordinate timing of any civil action so it will not interfere with the federal case.

“There is the potential that we’d delay our civil action until conclusion of the criminal case if it’s felt that we’d in any way impede that,” he said.

Any fines against Ives and the ranch would go to the laborers as restitution or to the Ventura County general fund, Bradbury said.

Ives’ attorney, Robert M. Talcott of Los Angeles, on Monday called the charges against Ives “totally absurd and rubbish.” He alleged that the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service had coerced workers at Ives’ farm, who were in this country illegally, into making accusations against their employer by threatening to arrest them.

“There was substantial traffic every day in and out of the ranch . . .,” Talcott said. “These allegations were made by a few disgruntled employees. They’re not substantiated by the vast number of people working on the ranch.”