A Williamsburg business owner pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court to human trafficking of people from Central America and forcing them to work.
George William Evans, 68, co-owned Northstar Holdings of Virginia LLC, also known as Magnolia Cleaning Services, a commercial laundry business, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. There, he participated in “a conspiracy to harbor, transport, and benefit from the employment of undocumented noncitizens,” a news release said.
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, the release said.
According to court documents, employees worked long hours in poor working conditions and some were threatened with deportation, physical harm and harm to their families. Some employees also lived in the laundry facility, where they were without access to a kitchen or a full bathroom, and one employee, a child, worked night shifts while attending school during the day.
In December, four people, including Evans, were charged in connection with labor trafficking at the business: Ana Landaverde, 47, and Jeffrey Vaughan, 64, both from Williamsburg, and a fourth unnamed defendant, who was accused of having acted as an illegal supplier of fraudulent identification documents.
Evans, of Midlothian, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Wilson Hanes to conspiring to defraud and commit offenses against the United States and engaging in a transaction in criminally derived property.
He agreed to forfeit more than $3.9 million, $1.9 million of which he agreed to pay before sentencing. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiracy and 10 years for money laundering when he is sentenced June 20.
The investigation was conducted by the Hampton Roads Human Trafficking Task Force.
Sian Wilkerson, sian.wilkerson@pilotonline.com, 757-342-6616
