The owners and managers of a cleaning business in the Williamsburg area have been sentenced in an ongoing large-scale human trafficking case.
In 2021, a tip from an acquaintance of one of the victims led to the discovery of the operation. According to investigators, owners George Evans and Jeffrey Vaughan co-owned Magnolia Cleaning Services in York County, which mainly focused on hotels and timeshares. Between the first quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2022, wage records indicate around 121 employees with alleged invalid or mismatched social security numbers, with more than $1.2 million in wages being paid to these employees. About 70% of employees had incomplete and invalid social security numbers.
According to investigator Adriana Mirarchi, who spoke at a press conference Wednesday, victims were between the ages of 14 to over 25 years old.
Evans was sentenced to 30 months in prison, and Vaughan was sentenced to 51 months. Salvador Jeronimo-Sis, who the prosecution says created false documents to employees, was sentenced to 20 months. Ana Aragon Landaverde, manager of Magnolia Cleaning Services, was sentenced to 57 months. All four defendants pleaded guilty, and restitution will be paid to the victims along with a $3.9 million forfeiture.
James Stitzel, assistant special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations, said the “groundbreaking” investigation came out of a partnership between Homeland Security Investigations, the Hampton Roads Human Trafficking Task Force and partner law enforcement agencies.
“These criminals operated a family-based labor trafficking enterprise, where they smuggled their workforce into the United States from El Salvador,” Stitzel said. “They coordinated and funded the smuggling of Salvadorian nationals into the U.S. for the purpose of employment at Magnolia Cleaning Services. The victims were further told their smuggling fee was a debt owed to the business upon their rescue. One teenage victim told investigators that for a two-year period from the ages of 14-16 years old, they were forced to work 11-hour overnight shifts before attending their high school classes.”
One of the victims, a mother, was assaulted when she asked if someone could care for her infant while she worked, investigators say. In October 2021, she and her baby were rescued, and officers found the infant alone and tied to a stroller. Some victims lived at the business and could only bathe in the company’s decontamination shower. Since there was no shower curtain, investigators said one victim used laundry bins for privacy.
Investigators and prosecutors Wednesday did not comment on immigration statuses on specific victims, but Mirarchi said resources have been provided to them, including some pathways to permanent citizenship. One is a T visa, which is a temporary immigration benefit that enables certain victims of a severe form of trafficking to remain in the U.S. for an initial period of up to four years if they have complied with any reasonable request for assistance from law enforcement.
Attorney General Jason Miyares said a combination of factors can influence human trafficking in Hampton Roads. He said the region’s transient nature combined with its large population and economic drive makes it a location where human trafficking, labor and sexual, happens. Other key areas specifically for labor trafficking include tourism, agriculture and aquaculture.
“It goes to show you that even after four decades in law enforcement, I’ve even learned that you don’t know everything that’s going on in the community without communicating with the people,” York County Sheriff Ron Montgomery said. “And sometimes it just takes the smallest tips.”
Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com
