US couple charged with detaining Sri Lankan woman
February 9, 2011 11:28 am
A Plano couple has pleaded not guilty to federal charges that they and other family members hid a Sri Lankan woman in their home and used threats to force her to work for them.
Nagham Hasan Burgotti, 30, and her husband, Adam Mohammad Barguthi, 40, face up to 95 years in prison if convicted on all charges in a seven-count federal indictment returned in December and unsealed Tuesday.
After they entered not guilty pleas during a hearing Monday afternoon, U.S. Magistrate Judge Irma Ramirez released them pending trial, authorities said. Prosecutors had asked that they be detained on the grounds that they could flee the country.
Barguthi declined to talk about the case when reached by phone Tuesday. He referred questions to his court-appointed attorney, who could not be reached.
Barguthi’s brother-in-law, Mohammad Arafeh Abuawad, 40, was arrested at Houston’s Intercontinental Airport on Friday while entering the U.S., authorities said.
Abuawad’s wife, Lowana Mohammad Awad, 36, and her mother, Huthaifa Ahmad Albarghuthi, 66, are also charged in the case but remain at large. All the defendants have dual U.S. and Jordanian citizenship, authorities said.
The indictment alleges that from 2006 to 2009, they conspired to threaten serious harm and abuse to a Sri Lankan woman, identified only as “S.H.,” if she did not work for them. They are also accused of keeping the woman’s passport and immigration documents to keep her from moving or traveling, authorities said.
Prosecutors are also seeking to seize a house owned by the family in the 6900 block of Meadow Bend Drive in Arlington, as well as two Tobacco Row stores in Plano. (Dallasnews)
