A federal grand jury in the District of Kansas has returned an eight-count indictment against eight defendants for their alleged roles in a forced labor conspiracy that victimized numerous minors who, between 2000 and 2012, worked in various food service and other businesses in Kansas and around the United States.
The indictment alleged that from 2000 through 2012, the defendants participated in running an organization called the United Nation of Islam (UNOI), an organization founded by the now deceased Royall Jenkins. The UNOI is alleged to have subjected multiple minors employed at UNOI-operated businesses in Kansas, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Ohio and elsewhere, to forced labor.
The indictment charge eight individuals with conspiracy to commit forced labor and forced labor: Kaaba Majeed, age 47, Jonesboro, Georgia; Yunus Rassoul, age 36, Cape Coral, Florida; James Staton, age 59, Fayetteville, North Carolina; Daniel Aubrey Jenkins, age 40; Lawrenceville, Georgia; Randolph Rodney Hadley, age 46, Fairburn, Georgia; Jacelyn Greenwell, age 42, Severn, Maryland; Etenia Kinard, age 46, Waldorf, Maryland; and Dana Peach, age 57, Clinton, Maryland.
The indictment alleges that over the course of more than a decade, the defendants coerced the victims into physically demanding labor at various UNOI-owned businesses around the United States.
The defendants allegedly used coercive tactics, such as separating victims from their families; withholding food; abusing victims physically and verbally; subjecting victims to crowded living conditions; psychological manipulation; degrading treatment; isolating victims and limiting their ability to interact with anyone outside of UNOI; and suggesting to victims that those who left UNOI met tragic consequences. Although the victims were school-aged, it is alleged the defendants did not provide them with an adequate or legitimate education.
The defendants will be arraigned at a later date in Kansas City, Kansas.
Upon conviction, the alleged crimes carry the following penalties: forced labor with a penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 and conspiracy to commit forced labor with a penalty of up to five years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.
This case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of the Inspector General and Wage and Hour Division. It will be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Huschka for the District of Kansas and Trial Attorneys Vasantha Rao and Kate Alexander of the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.