Convicted: Vashon landscaper forced undocumented victims to work for him without pay

VASHON ISLAND, Wash. — Prosecutors say the owner of Brothers Landscaping on Vashon Island, Jesus Ruiz-Hernandez, lured victims from Mexico, forced them to work for him without pay, and charged them excessive amounts for rent and food to fund his own lavish lifestyle.

Ruiz-Hernandez, 45, was convicted in federal court on Wednesday of numerous charges related to human trafficking and forced labor.

Case records and testimony said Ruiz-Hernandez promised victims a better life for their families and used smugglers to bring them to the U.S. in exchange for them temporarily giving up rights to their children and family properties.

Many of the victims, who did not speak, read, or write English, were forced to work for Ruiz-Hernandez’s company without pay while they lived in his home and on other properties, while depending on him for food, shelter and other necessities. That led to growing debts while they were thousands of miles from home.

“For years Ruiz-Hernandez ensured a steady pipeline of workers for his landscaping business… He used their undocumented status and inability to speak English to prey on them,” prosecutors said.

A jury found that Ruiz-Hernandez committed aggravated sexual abuse against one victim in 2017.

In all, he was convicted of exploiting the labor of seven people who were in the U.S. illegally. He was also convicted of six counts of money laundering, as some payment for work done by the victims was used to buy property on Vashon Island.

Some of the money laundering counts were related to sending money to Mexico to pay fees to smugglers to get his victims across the border.

After his trial on the human and labor trafficking counts, the jury decided that the properties on Vashon were bought with laundered money and should be forfeited to the government.

Read the full news release about his conviction at this link.

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