Bradford, Ont. woman avoids jail time for hiring illegal Mexican workers
A Bradford, Ont. woman initially charged with forced labour and human trafficking offences was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to illegally employing foreign nationals to work for her cleaning company.
Fanny Chimoy Melendez learned she won't spend any time behind bars after being sentenced to two years of probation.
Chimoy Melendez's co-accused, Maria Flores Evariston, is set to stand trial in the new year.
Chimoy Melendez and Flores Evariston were first charged about two years ago after a joint investigation by South Simcoe Police Service and the Canada Border Services Agency.
The investigation started after two women, Cynthia Cisneros Benitez and Juanita Solario Nunes, were struck by a snow plow tractor while leaving their job cleaning a car dealership in Barrie and walking to the next job.
Cisneros died in the accident, while Solario Nunes was seriously injured.
Police said at the time that the women were Mexican-born workers who had been recruited, trafficked and defrauded after being brought to Canada with the promise of good housing and jobs.
Chimoy Melendez's lawyer, Jeffrey Goldglass, said the charges against his client were without merit and that she has paid a steep price because of the allegations.
The Crown had asked for Chimoy Melendez to be sentenced to six to nine months in jail and pay a $15,000 fine, but Justice Michelle Fuerst called the request excessive and not proportional before sentencing Chimoy Melendez to probation.
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