FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CR
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1996                           (202) 616-2765
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888
                                 
   SEVEN THAI NATIONALS PLEAD GUILTY TO ENSLAVING MORE THAN 80
    FEMALE LABORERS IN AN EL MONTE, CALIFORNIA GARMENT FACTORY


     WASHINGTON, D.C. --  Seven defendants who recruited more than
80 female laborers from Thailand, kept them imprisoned for up to
seven years in a compound surrounded by razor wire, and forced them
to work in a makeshift garment factory near Los Angeles, pleaded
guilty today to violating federal criminal civil rights laws,
announced Deval L. Patrick, Assistant Attorney General for Civil
Rights and Nora M. Manella, U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles.
     Under the plea agreements, filed today in U.S. District Court
in Los Angeles, five defendants face prison terms that could range
from six to seven years, a sixth defendant could get a four year
sentence and a seventh defendant, who had a lesser role, faces a
two year sentence.
     "These are among the largest sentences ever agreed to in a
modern slavery case," said Patrick.  "They are nearly twice as high
as normally provided for under federal sentencing guidelines."   
     Manella said the defendants, including Suni Manasurangkun and
her three sons, acknowledged running their El Monte garment
business from 1989 until 1995 with a captive work force of
impoverished Thai women whom they recruited in Thailand.
     "The very fact that slavery could exist in this country, in
this day and age, is appalling," said Manella.  "Our victory today
shows that vigorous criminal prosecution is still needed to protect
basic freedoms."
     As their operation grew, Manella said the defendants admitted
to imposing increasingly harsh conditions on the laborers to
prevent them from escaping.  They surrounded the El Monte compound
with razor wire and a spiked fence, and barricaded the doors and
windows of the workers' quarters, said Manella.  To further prevent
escape, they hired two full-time guards, who also plead guilty
today. 
     Manella said the defendants acknowledged making threats
against the workers and their families if they tried to escape,
cutting off their contact with the outside world, censoring their
mail and monitoring their phone calls to keep them from getting
help.
     Under the plea, Suni Manasurangkun faces seven years in
prison.  Her sons, Wirachai, Surachai and Phanasak as well as
Sunthon Rawangchaison, a guard, face six years in prison.  Rampha
Satthaprasit could get four years in prison.  The arrangement was
made possible when the six agreed not to oppose a government
request for the judge to depart from the guidelines.  The seventh
defendant, Seri Kanchakphairi, faces a two year prison term.  An
eighth defendant pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy.  
     Judge Audrey B. Collins will decide upon the actual sentences
at a hearing to be held at a later date.
     "The U.S. Attorneys Office and the Civil Rights Division could
not have succeeded without the cooperation of the INS, FBI and the
Department of Labor," added Manella.    "The successful prosecution
of this case is indicative of this Office's commitment to the
vigorous enforcement of the federal criminal civil rights laws."
     The case was investigated by the INS, the FBI and the U.S.
Department of Labor.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael J. Gennaco
and Thomas D. Warren and Steven M. Dettelbach, a Trial Attorney in
the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division prosecuted the
case.
     "This is the culmination of an extensive effort by this agency
on this case," said Richard K. Rogers, INS District Director in Los
Angeles.  "But this case is only part of a broad, continuing,
nationwide effort by INS to pursue violators of immigration hiring
laws, especially those who engage in smuggling, slavery and human
rights abuses."
     Manella noted that her office is currently prosecuting two
additional civil rights cases.  One involves an alleged racially
motivated beating of an Hispanic man in Cathedral City and another
accuses a federal law enforcement officer with using excessive
force against a Latino detainee.
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