Man admits forcing immigrant teens to work

Associated Press

MARION, Ohio

A Guatemalan man has pleaded guilty to charges related to an operation that took immigrant teenage boys from U.S. custody and put them to work as virtual slaves on Ohio egg farms.

Federal prosecutors say Arodolo Rigoberto Castillo-Serrano was behind a scheme that involved filing fraudulent government paperwork to claim the teens from custody after they crossed the border. They say he was in the U.S. illegally for much of the past decade.

He pleaded guilty Monday in Cleveland to charges of forced labor conspiracy, forced labor, witness tampering and encouraging illegal entry into the country. He’ll be sentenced later.