Bidemi Bello, a 41-year old Nigerian woman was convicted of human trafficking and several other charges after forcing two women to work unpaid for her for years, in what prosecutors called "a case of modern day slavery."
She was convicted by a federal jury on Friday of eight counts: two counts of forced labor, two counts of trafficking for forced labor, one count of document servitude, one count of alien harboring and two counts of making false statements in an application to become a US citizen.
"The defendant both physically abused and psychologically intimidated these women for her own personal gain," said Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the civil rights division, after a verdict was reached in the week-long trial.
"This was a case of modern day slavery hidden within an expensive home in an upscale neighborhood," said US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Sally Quillian Yates.
"The two women who were abused here thought they were going to be nannies; instead they were treated inhumanely.
"The laws of the United States protect all victims from such abuse, regardless of where they came from or how they came to be in the United States," Yates said.
According to evidence and testimony presented during the trial, the two women were separately recruited in Nigeria by Bello and brought to the United States to work as her nanny.
The Nigerian woman had promised to send the young women to school in the United States, and in the case of one victim, had promised to pay her as well.
But the testimony showed, however, that once in the United States, Bello became verbally and physically abusive to both young women, who were forced to sleep on the floor even though her upscale home had multiple bedrooms and bathrooms. They were given little to eat and forced to work unreasonably long days in harsh conditions.
Officials said sentencing for Bello has been set for August.
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