3 Charged With Enslaving Members of Chinese Acrobatic Troupe Performing in U.S.
Federal prosecutors have charged 3 people in Las Vegas with enslaving Chinese acrobats in their midteens and twenties.
Federal prosecutors here say the group has a dark side. Last week they filed charges against three adult leaders of the group, accusing them of “involuntary servitude.”
You Zhi Li, 38, identified by performers as their boss, and Yang Shen, 21, and Jun Hu, 43, called “enforcers” by some members of the troupe, were taken into custody late last month after a woman working as an interpreter for the group contacted the authorities.
The complaint asserts that the three leaders deprived members of the group, most in their midteens to late 20s, of adequate food and payment, kept them in crowded bedrooms and refused to let them leave the house. Mr. Li owns a home in a subdivision here that serves as their base in the United States.
In the federal complaint, the breakaway troupe members said their passports were held under lock and key and one juvenile member said “he only received two meals a day, which consisted of rice, noodles and sometimes meat.”
On days off, the complaint said, some members were forced to go to the home of a friend of Mr. Li’s to do cleaning, lawn work and other tasks not related to performing.
More details in The Times article 3 Charged With Enslaving Members of Chinese Acrobatic Troupe Performing in U.S.
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