Fort Worth woman forced Mexican women into slave labor in El Paso
A federal jury on Friday convicted a Fort Worth woman on two counts of forced labor and two counts of “harboring an illegal alien,” according to U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Olga Sandra Murra – aka “Olga Sandra Capon-Meneses” – brought two women into the U.S. illegally from Mexico and forced them, with threat of serious harm and physical restraint, to work for her without pay.
The 64-year-old Murra reportedly told the women she was the “voice of God on earth,” and required them to listen to religious recordings of Murra reading Bible verses while they cleaned homes. Prosecutors say the victims believed they would go to hell if they disobeyed Murra.
Murra lived in Mexico from her birth in 1952 until 1997, when she moved with her family to El Paso, Texas. Investigators say that’s when she brought “VR,” a woman in her 30s, to the United States. The family later moved to Fort Worth.
In 1998, Murra arranged for “IG,” a woman in her 20s, to be transported into the U.S. Federal prosecutors said both VR and IG are Mexican citizens brought into the U.S. Illegally.
From September 1997 to April 29, 2011, Murra kept one or both of the women at her various residences in El Paso and Fort Worth, and held their identification documents.
Murra operated a house-cleaning business in both El Paso and Fort Worth. She forced both VR and IG to work for her business. The victims both cleaned three to four homes per day up to seven days a week. Prosecutors say the women also cleaned Murra’s residence and prepared meals for her. Not only did Murra not pay either woman for this work, she also required the two women to give her all the money they earned cleaning houses.
Prosecutors said Murra threatened at least one of the women, that if she disobeyed her, she would report her to immigration and the woman would be buried in a field with other illegal aliens.
Murra also restricted the women’s movement within her house, requiring them to ask for permission to go to the bathroom, and prohibiting them from talking to other individuals living at the residence.
Investigators said the women slept on the bedroom floor in the residence. When punished, the women were required them to sleep in the garage, laundry room or backyard. Murra also restricted the amount of food, bread and water given to the women.
In 2001, Murra provided IG with false identification documents and directed the woman to work at McDonald’s and Walmart, in addition to working for her house-cleaning business. IG worked for about one year at McDonald’s in 2001 and at Walmart for about six months in 2003. Murra required the woman to give her every single one of her paychecks, prosecutors said.
Federal officials said each forced labor count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Each harboring count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Murra is scheduled to be sentenced November 28, 2016.
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
