CENTRAL ISLIP, New York (AP) -- A millionaire who inflicted years of abuse on two Indonesian housekeepers held as virtual slaves in her Long Island mansion was sentenced Thursday to 11 years in prison.


Varsha Sabhnani, 46, was convicted on a 12-count federal indictment.

Varsha Sabhnani, 46, was convicted with her husband in December on a 12-count federal indictment that included forced labor, conspiracy, involuntary servitude and harboring aliens.

The trial provided a glimpse into a growing U.S. problem of domestic workers exploited in slave-like conditions.

The victims testified that they were beaten with brooms and umbrellas, slashed with knives, and forced to climb stairs and take freezing showers as punishment. One victim was forced to eat dozens of chili peppers and then was forced to eat her own vomit when she couldn't keep the peppers down, prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge Arthur Spatt called the testimony "eye-opening, to say the least -- that things like that go on in our country."

"In her arrogance, she treated Samirah and Enung as less than people," Assistant U.S. Attorney Demetri Jones said. "Justice for the victims, that's what the government is asking for."

Federal sentencing guidelines had recommended a range of 12 to 15 years in prison for Sabhnani, who was identified as the one who inflicted the abuse. In addition to prison, she will serve three years of probation and was fined $25,000.

"I just want to say that I love my children very much," the defendant told the court as two of her grown children looked on. "I was brought to this Earth to help people who are in need."

Mahender Sabhnani, 51, who is free on bail while awaiting his own Friday sentencing, wept as he watched his wife's punishment pronounced.

He was charged with the same crimes because he allowed the conduct to take place and benefited from the work the women performed in his home, prosecutors said. He is expected to receive a much shorter prison term.

Prosecutors contended that the accusations amounted to a "modern-day slavery" case. They said the maids were subjected to "punishment that escalated into a cruel form of torture," which ended in May 2007, when one of the women fled early on Mother's Day. She wandered into a Dunkin' Donuts wearing nothing but rags, and employees called police.

"This did not happen in the 1800s," Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Lesko said during the trial. "This happened in the 21st century. This happened in Muttontown, New York."

The women, whose relatives in Indonesia were paid about $100 a month -- the women themselves received no cash -- said they were tortured and beaten for misdeeds that included sleeping late or stealing food from trash bins because they were poorly fed. Both women also said they were forced to sleep on mats in the kitchen.

Spatt postponed a decision on the amount of back wages owed to the women. Prosecutors suggested that the women were due more than $1.1 million, but defense attorneys said the figure should be much lower.

The couple also face fines and could be forced to forfeit their home, which is valued at almost $2 million. Mahender Sabhnani ran an international perfume business out of a home office.

One of the women arrived in the Sabhnanis' Muttontown home in 2002, the second in 2005. Their passports and other travel documents were immediately confiscated by the Sabhnanis, the women testified.

The defense, which intends to appeal, contended the two women concocted the story as a way of escaping the house for more lucrative opportunities. They also argued that the housekeepers practiced witchcraft and may have abused themselves as part of a self-mutilation ritual.

Defense attorney Jeffrey Hoffman said that 175 letters were submitted to the court detailing Sabhnani's charitable acts around the world. He called her "a woman who spent a lifetime doing good deeds."

Hoffman said that around 2004 or 2005, Sabhnani's weight plummeted from 325 pounds to 135. "She did it by starving herself," and that resulted in a chemical imbalance and significant malnourishment. "She had become a very different person."

"I think it's very harsh," Hoffman said after the sentencing. "She has suffered dramatically."

Wow

Graycap23 said:

yeah well she can suffer some more cruel bitch!

Sick.

Money will make a man say the sky is green.....this is horrific.

There've been a few cases out here in BC like that. Foreign workers coming into Canada for jobs and basically being kept prisoner by their "employer".

Wow, insane.

The husband's getting 3-1/2 yrs and fined $12,500. Prosecution is suggesting the women are owed $1.1million. He's currently out on bail til Oct. and they may have to forfeit their home.

paisleypark4 said:

Shit happens..

Even though it wont take away what happened, she should also be stripped of her money and it equally shared out among the people who suffered her cruel abuse..

REDFEATHERS said:

I agree, but millionaires with no conscience are already technically bankrupt.

Good1 said:

..and what are the sufferers?

REDFEATHERS said:

Alive and free. Who would want that stinking money anyway? Lord knows where it came from.

Good1 said:

REDFEATHERS said:

serious.

Good1 said:

I think the whole reason they started working there was cos of the money..