N.H. Couple Sentenced for Forced Labor
By Associated Press

January 16, 2004, 4:57 PM EST

CONCORD, N.H. -- A couple were sentenced to six years in prison Friday for forcing Jamaican laborers to work in their tree-cutting business.

Timothy Bradley, 43, and Kathleen O'Dell, 48, of Litchfield, were convicted in August of taking the workers' passports and visas, lying to them and reneging on promises about pay and housing.

"Luring foreigners to our shores with false promises, impressing them into labor, and withholding even the most basic of services is nothing short of modern-day slavery," said federal prosecutor R. Alexander Acosta.

The couple's lawyers portrayed the Jamaicans as disgruntled workers.

Isis Latham, O'Dell's daughter, said the couple never kept workers against their will.

"My mother is nothing like a slave trader," she said. "We shouldn't get sent to prison for our judgment calls."