An Upper Marlboro couple is accused of abusing a Filipina woman who worked for them as a domestic servant.
Alfred Edwards, 73, and Gloria Edwards, 60, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Greenbelt.
The indictment says they enticed the woman — an uneducated mother of eight — to come to the United States by falsely promising her a salary that would support her family in the Philippines. The couple is accused of getting a false visa for the woman, confiscating visa documents after she arrived and forcing her to work 13 hours of day using threats and assaults for more than 10 years.
The alleged abuse took place from October 1998 to December 2009, according to the indictment.
The indictment says the couple told the woman there were guns in the house and they would shoot her if she ran away. They also allegedly forced her to marry one man, then later divorce him and marry Alfred Edwards’ brother, who suffered from dementia and diabetes and required extensive care.
Gloria Edwards is accused of hitting the woman, pinching her and poking her with knives.
For some of the time, the couple didn’t pay the woman or send money to her family in the Philippines, the indictment says.
The couple is charged with forced labor conspiracy, forced labor, document servitude, conspiracy to harbor for financial gain and harboring a domestic worker for financial gain.
Prosecutors said they could face up to 50 years in prison and a $250,000 if convicted of the charges.
