MILWAUKEE — A Filipino-American Wisconsin couple who held a Filipina as a domestic servant in their home for 19 years by threatening her with deportation, imprisonment and physical restraint, was indicted March 16 on charges of human trafficking, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The indictment alleges that Jefferson and Elnora Calimlim, of Brookfield, used threats of serious harm and physical restraint to coerce Irma Martinez to serve as their domestic servant for 19 years.

The indictment also charges the couple and their son, Jefferson Jr., with alien harboring for financial gain, and charges Jefferson Jr. with making false material statements to federal officials.

“Coerced servitude is nothing short of domestic slavery, and is both legally wrong and morally reprehensible,” said R. Alexander Acosta, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division. “We take domestic servitude cases and allegations extremely seriously, and will root out this modern day evil.”

According to the six-count indictment, Jefferson and Elnora Calimlim coerced the victim to work long hours seven days a week as a domestic servant for little or no money. They threatened the victim with deportation and imprisonment if she disobeyed them, and confined her inside their home, not allowing her to socialize, communicate freely with the outside world, or leave the house unsupervised. The victim was required to hide in her basement bedroom whenever non-family members were present in the house.
“To hold another human being in involuntary servitude show a callous disregard for human dignity,” said Brian Falvey, resident agent-in-charge of ICE investigations in Milwaukee. “ICE is committed to aggressively investigating human traffickers who greedily exploit their fellow human beings.”

If convicted, Jefferson and Elnora Calimlim each face a maximum sentence of up to 65 years in prison, mandatory restitution and $1.25 million in fines.

Jefferson Calimlim Jr. faces up to 25 years in prison, restitution and $750,000 in fines. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of the Calimlims’ house as an instrumentality of the crime.

The criminal charges in this indictment are the result of an investigation by ICE and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Attorneys from the Civil Rights Division and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin are jointly prosecuting the case. An indictment is an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Jefferson Jr. was charged with lying to the FBI.

When federal authorities raided the $1 million home last September, the 30-year-old son told an agent that he didn’t know where the domestic worker was and that he hadn’t seen her in about a year, an agent testified during a hearing in federal court last Wednesday.
Moments later, other agents found Martinez in a basement wine cellar being used as her bedroom, the agent testified.

The three have pleaded not guilty to all charges. They are free on recognizance bonds, but their travel is restricted.

Martinez was 15 in 1985 when she first started working for Elnora Calimlim’s father and moved to the United States from the Philippines, according to search warrant affidavits.

When he died, Martinez began working for Jefferson and Elnora Calimlim, cleaning their home and watching their children, the affidavits say

The couple agreed to pay her $100 a month until 1995 and $400 a month thereafter, with most of the wages to be sent to Martinez’s family overseas.