37 Deaf Mexicans Moved to New York City Shelter

A year to the day after their plight was discovered, 37 deaf Mexicans who had lived as indentured slaves peddling trinkets in subways were taken Sunday to a city-owned shelter.

As workers loaded their possessions into a truck, the Mexicans smiled, waved and flashed peace signs from second-story windows of the motel where they have lived for 11 months.

“Brooklyn!” shouted the son of one family, referring to their new home.

The 37 adults, along with six of their children, moved to a renovated three-story house with nursing care, security, 24-hour sign language interpreters and tutors. They also will get job training.

Their new neighborhood is rundown with graffiti-smeared buildings, some with boarded-up windows. But the Mexicans will have full-time security.

“I would imagine the neighborhood is pretty sympathetic to what they’ve been through,” resident John Koenig said. “They will be welcome here.”

Their move also came a month to the day since the last of 18 other Mexicans was sentenced for the scheme in which the deaf illegal immigrants were held prisoner and forced to peddle trinkets on New York subways and streets.

Operating in New York and other cities since 1993, the setup was earning $1 million a year, authorities said. It ended when four captives fled a house July 19, 1997, and notified police.

Police found 57 people living as virtual prisoners in two houses. Smaller operations were broken up in Chicago and Los Angeles.

The defendants pleaded guilty to crimes ranging from criminal conspiracy to immigrant smuggling and enslavement.

Ringleader Adriana Paoletti Lemus, 30, was sentenced to 14 years, and her mother, Delia, 59, drew a five-year term.