A federal indictment was unsealed this week, revealing an alleged labor trafficking scheme out of Georgia where a group of defendants is accused of using the H-2A visa program to import foreign farm workers whom they then abused, stole from, and exploited.

The indictment accuses 61-year-old Martha Aquino, 49-year-old Evangelina Aquino De Galvan, 38-year-old Julio Cervantes, 41-year-old Marco Cervantes, and 31-year-old illegal alien Juan Felipe Romero-Lopez of carrying out the labor trafficking scheme.

The H-2A visa program allows farms to bring an unlimited number of foreign workers to the United States every year to take American agricultural jobs. The program is rife with abuse and fraud, with companies using it to import cheaper, more compliant foreign workers.

According to prosecutors, the defendants fraudulently obtained H-2A visas to import foreign workers. Once in the U.S., the workers were allegedly forced to hand over payments to the defendants, who also allegedly took their passports and threatened them with violence if they left their farm jobs.

When the workers’ visas expired, the defendants allegedly enabled them to remain in the U.S. illegally and offered to drive them to other regions of the country for work, so long as the workers paid the defendants.

“Those who exploit immigrant workers and abuse the H-2A visa program for their own financial gain will be held accountable,” U.S. Attorney Margaret E. Heap said. “We will continue to partner with our federal, state and local agencies to protect these workers, safeguard the integrity of the H-2A program and prosecute those who turn a lawful employment program into a vehicle for profit and abuse.”

While Martha Aquino, Julio Cervantes, and Marco Cervantes have been arrested, and Juan Felipe Romero-Lopez is already in federal custody due to prior weapons charges, Evangelina Aquino De Galvan remains on the run.

Aquino, Aquino De Galvan, and Julio Cervantes are charged with conspiring to commit visa fraud, visa fraud, and encouraging and inducing aliens to enter the U.S. illegally for commercial advantage and private gain.

Marco Cervantes has been charged with conspiring to commit visa fraud and visa fraud, while Juan Felipe Romero-Lopez has been charged with conspiring to commit visa fraud and being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com.