WONDERFUL-WORLD

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: June 28, 2008

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — A Long Island man convicted of helping his wife keep two Indonesian housekeepers as virtual slaves was sentenced on Friday to three years and four months in prison, ending a trial that shed light on the often little-seen exploitation and abuse of domestic workers.

The man, Mahender Sabhnani, 52, an international perfume maker, was also fined $12,500. He was convicted in December on a 12-count federal indictment that included charges of forced labor, conspiracy, involuntary servitude and harboring aliens.

The victims testified that they were beaten with brooms and umbrellas, slashed with knives and forced to climb stairs and to take freezing showers for misdeeds that included sleeping late or stealing food from the trash because they were poorly fed.

On Thursday, Mr. Sabhnani tearfully watched as his wife, Varsha, was sentenced to 11 years in prison. On Friday, she dabbed her eyes as she watched her husband meet his own fate in Federal District Court.

Prosecutors contended that Varsha Sabhnani was primarily responsible for inflicting years of abuse on the poorly educated servants.

Her husband, they said, allowed the abuse and benefited from the work the women performed in the couple’s $2 million Muttontown home.

Do you think the fine and amount of jail time fits the crime?