Pennsylvania man charged with forcing immigrant teens to work on farm

Pennsylvania authorities have charged a man with bringing two teenage girls into the United States from Mexico and Guatemala and forcing them to work on a farm for little or no pay, the state attorney general said Monday.

Ramiro Caal Jolomna used the threat of deportation to coerce the girls, ages 14 and 17, to work on the mushroom farm in Chester County, Attorney General Dave Sunday said.

The girls were forced to work seven days a week and “were charged ‘debts’ for Jolomna having them brought into the country,” the attorney general’s office and Pennsylvania State Police said in a statement.

Sunday said in a statement, “This is a disturbing set of facts involving a man preying on vulnerable girls who wanted to make an honest living and help their families back home.”

The girls were kept out of school to work on the farm, authorities said. How the 14-year-old came to America was not clear from the statement; she is alleged to have been brought in from Mexico.

Authorities said that Jolomna brought the 17-year-old to the country under a sponsorship and that she wanted to provide for a sick father and family members back in Guatemala.

Jolomna had the younger girl's paychecks signed over to him and kept most of the older girl's wages, the attorney general's office alleged.

Jolomna is charged trafficking in individuals and involuntary servitude, as well as other counts, the attorney general’s office said.

Online court records did not appear to show his case Monday night, and it was not clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

The attorney general's office said Monday that Jolomna was arraigned and that bail was set at $1 million.