N.Y. couple may do time at home

A federal judge said Wednesday that a Long Island couple charged with enslaving two Indonesian women could be released on bail, provided that their mansion is turned into a temporary prison pending the outcome of their trial.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Platt said the couple, Varsha Sabhnani and her husband, Mahender Sabhnani, could be released to their home under a set of unusual conditions.

“For all practical purposes,” their home will be turned into “a jail at their own expense,” Platt said.

If government agents “suspect something is wrong, your clients will be back in jail,” Platt told defense attorneys at U.S. District Court.

Among the conditions, Platt said, are that the couple wear electronic monitors, have their telephones tapped and possibly have their home’s Internet connections disabled. Platt also suggested that the house be guarded around the clock and that the couple’s four children not be allowed to carry any packages or messages for their parents. Platt said delivery people would have to take food into the home.

The confinement arrangements would have to be fully paid for by the Sabhnanis, Platt said. In addition, Varsha Sabhnani would have to put up $2.5 million in bail and her husband $1 million.

Platt gave defense attorneys and federal prosecutors until Friday to work out details of the home confinement. The Sabhnanis remain in federal custody, where they have been for the two weeks since their arrest on charges of slavery and harboring fugitive foreigners.

The two grounds for denying bail to a person charged with a federal felony are risk of flight or being a danger to the community.