Legal Hot Water

Church leaders indicted in forced labor conspiracy

"According to the lawsuit, ministry leaders subjected mostly homeless people to forced labor, coercing them to surrender welfare benefits and compelled them to panhandle up to nine hours a day, six days a week – all for the financial benefit of the church leaders."

 

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"A list of 29 house rules cited in an indictment unsealed Tuesday describes how the ministry kept a tight hold on residents in a cult-like atmosphere. They were prohibited from discussing "things of the world" and reading anything but the Bible, forced to surrender all identification and personal belongings, avoid family contact for the first 30 days and relinquish all earnings.

"You can't leave the house unless accompanied by someone and with the permission from the director -- never by yourself," the rules sheet read. "You can't go to the front yard, unless told so by the counselor."

Victor Gonzalez, the ministry's 40-year-old former pastor of Brownsville, Texas, his 39-year-old wife, Susan Christine Leyva, and 10 others have pleaded not guilty to crimes including forced labor and benefits fraud. The defendants allegedly confiscated magnetic-striped cards that are used for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps.

Gonzalez, his wife and nine others appeared Wednesday at federal court in Brownsville and El Centro. Five defendants in El Centro were found to be in the country illegally and denied bond because they were considered flight risks. No one responded to phone and email messages left Wednesday with the ministry, and it was unclear if the defendants had attorneys.

For all the horrors outlined in a 29-page indictment, the ministry drew little public suspicion until the FBI raided its properties in May 2018.

"We certainly encountered a lot of people who were very appreciative of going cold turkey and getting off of drugs," Christopher Tenorio, an assistant U.S. attorney based in San Diego, said Wednesday.

The ministry was founded in the 1970s and opened its first group home in 1992. Tenorio said the founders, who were not named in the indictment and are now elderly, turned over the reins to Gonzalez, a resident, in 2013, which is when abuses began to escalate.

Windows were nailed shut at some group home locations, leading a 17-year-old victim to break a window, escape, and run to a neighboring property to call police, authorities say. Ministry members allegedly told people that they would not receive transportation home, that loved ones had rejected them and they must stay because only God loved them. Punishments included withholding food."