WEST COUNTY : SOMIS : March 5 Trial Set in Slave Labor Case
The trial of a Somis flower rancher charged with enslaving more than 100 Mexican laborers has been set for March 5 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.
Edwin Ives, 53, a Los Angeles resident, and seven of his employees will not face trial until next year because the U.S. attorney’s office needs extra time to prepare, Assistant U.S. Atty. Carol Gillam said recently.
“We will have to take numerous depositions in Mexico and will run into problems over the holidays when several witnesses will be hard to get ahold of,” Gillam said.
Gillam said about 400 workers were forced to labor at sub-minimum wages and to buy food supplies at inflated prices from a company store.
Ives is free on $150,000 bail. Five of his employees--Pedro Pinzon, 30; Josue David Pinzon, 23; Rony Havive, 30; Alvaro Ruiz, 39; and Mauro Casares, 64--are free on $25,000 bail. Another defendant, Paringer Singh, 39, is free on $15,000 bail.
Officials are trying to extradite another of Ives’ employees, Najuum Isaac, 30, from Israel to face charges.
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