Texas Woman Guilty of Forcing Immigrant Women to Work for Free by Claiming to be 'Voice of God on Earth'
An elderly Texas woman has been found guilty of illegally transporting two Mexican women into the U.S., then forcing them to work without pay for several years.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Olga Sandra Murra kept control of the two women by conning them into believing "they would go to hell if they did not obey her."
As part of her scheme, she also proclaimed herself the "voice of God on earth" and forced each of the victims to listen to her religious rants as she passed judgment on their meaning as they cleaned houses for her.
Threatened with Deportation
Also known to Tarrant County Sheriff officials as Olga Capon-Meneses, prosecutors added "Murra threatened at least one of the women that if she disobeyed her she would contact immigration and the woman would be buried in a field with other illegal aliens."
Convicted by a federal jury on two counts of forced labor and two counts of harboring an illegal alien, Murra now faces up to 20 years in federal prison on each forced labor count and up to 10 years on each harboring count.
Sentencing is slated for Nov. 28. Murra has already also been slapped with a $250,000 fine.
During the week-long trial, prosecutors revealed the two women were forced to clean three to four houses per day up to seven days a week. They also cleaned Murra's residence and prepared meals for her.
Murra Took all Money
All of the money earned by the two victims was turned over to Murra and the women were forced to sleep on a bedroom floor, prohibited from talking to other residents at the home, and at times forced to reqquire permission to use the bathroom.
As a form of punishment, the women were forced to sleep in the backyard, garage, or laundry room and given only bread and water
Back in early 2000, Murra forced at least one of the women into taking an additional job at McDonald's and later Wal-Mart with false documents . In both instances, she took all of the money earned by the woman for herself.
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