U.S. judge deports Qatar military officer accused of enslaving servants
Source: Reuters
World | Tue Feb 9, 2016 5:48pm EST
U.S. judge deports Qatar military officer accused of enslaving servants
SAN ANTONIO | BY JIM FORSYTH
A U.S. judge ordered the immediate deportation on Tuesday of a Qatar military officer and his wife after they were accused of holding two female servants in slave-like conditions in their upscale San Antonio home.
Hassan al-Homoud, 46, who received military training at San Antonio's Camp Bullis, and his wife, Zainab al-Hosani, a citizen of the United Arab Emirates, pleaded guilty to federal charges in December.
U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia said he had hoped to hand down a harsher sentence than deportation in the case, since engaging in forced labor is a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
But a plea agreement was offered to the couple because the servants - one from Bangladesh and the other from Indonesia - refused to testify against them.
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