Undocumented Workers Living In Warehouse Locked From Outside

HAYWARD, CA — A Hayward man has been indicted and arrested on a federal charge of harboring undocumented workers for private financial gain for at least two years.

Job Torres Hernandez, 47, was indicted under seal by a federal grand jury in San Francisco on Aug. 24 and was arrested in Hayward Tuesday morning.

The indictment was unsealed after his initial court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Donna Ryu in Oakland Tuesday. Ryu advised Torres of the charges and ordered him held in custody for the time being. She instructed him to return to her court today for identification of a defense lawyer, arraignment and a hearing on prosecutors' request to have him held in custody while awaiting trial.

U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Abraham Simmons said that during the initial hearing, prosecutors alleged that Torres paid his workers below the minimum wage and that the warehouse where many of the workers lived was locked from the outside at night.

Simmons said the prosecutors also said that seven people were recovered from the warehouse during a search.

The indictment alleges that Simmons harbored at least five undocumented workers, whose initials are given, along with unnamed others.

Torres is charged in the indictment with one count of harboring undocumented workers for commercial advantage or private financial gain, from at least July 15, 2015, through the present.

If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison.

— Bay City News; Image by Renee Schiavone, Patch

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