03:06 PM ET Share Comments (220 comments) Permalink Georgia woman sentenced to more than 11 years for human trafficking

By Moni Basu, CNN

ATLANTA - Bidemi Bello will spend the next 11 years in a U.S. prison. After that she will be deported back to her native Nigeria, her luxe life in suburban Atlanta decidedly finished.
Bello, 42, was convicted for bringing two Nigerian women to the United States and forcing them to work in her plush home as slaves. U.S. District Judge William Duffey Jr. sentenced her to 140 months in jail Thursday.
Bello apologized to her two victims, present in the Atlanta courtroom to hear firsthand their abuser's punishment. Bello also apologized to her prosecutors, said U.S. Attorney Susan Coppedge.
"We are very pleased with the sentence," she said. "I think it fits the facts of the case."
Those facts amounted to "shocking modern-day slavery," said Brock Nicholson, the special agent in charge of immigration and homeland security investigations in Atlanta.
Bello had promised the two young women, identified as Laome and Dupe in court, and their families that she would send them to school in the United States, according to court documents. Instead, she beat them and abused them emotionally.
At her trial, her victims testified that she beat them if the house were not clean enough or if they did not respond fast enough to a crying child or if Bello felt they had been disrespectful. She used a large wooden spoon, shoes, electrical cords and even her bare hands.
One of the women took a picture of her bruises with a disposable camera.
Bellow lived in an upscale home with many bedrooms. But the two women slept on the floor or on a couch. They were not allowed to use the shower or eat the food they cooked. Instead, they were forced to eat that was spoiled or moldy. Laome said she often threw up and at least on one occasion, Bello made her eat her vomit.
Laome was only 17 when Bello plucked her from her home in 2001. Dupe was 20 in 2004 when she came to the United States. Both traveled on fake passports.
Neither was sent to school as promised.
All of this was going on as Bello applied for and obtained U.S. citizenship. She lost that citizenship in her sentencing Thursday.
Laome eventually escaped by hiding in a car. The driver covered her with blankets and sped off while Bello was at a party.
Dupe managed to save $60 and called a cab that drove her to a church.
A federal jury convicted Bello June 10 on eight counts: two counts each of forced labor, trafficking for forced labor and making false statements in an application to become a U.S. citizen, and one count each of document servitude and alien harboring.
A phone call to Bello's attorney was not returned Friday.
Globally, an estimated 12.3 million adults and children - 56% of whom are women and girls - are the victims of forced labor, bonded labor and sex slavery, according to the U.S. State Department. The trade puts approximately $32 billion into the pockets of traffickers each year.
Coppedge said she was sure similar cases exist in Atlanta and elsewhere in the United States.
"Unfortunately, yes," she said. "I do think there are others."
Her office urged anyone with information on a human trafficking case to contact the Atlanta FBI at (404) 679-9000.
– CNN's Dana Ford contributed to this story.

By Moni Basu, CNN

ATLANTA - Bidemi Bello will spend the next 11 years in a U.S. prison. After that she will be deported back to her native Nigeria, her luxe life in suburban Atlanta decidedly finished.
Bello, 42, was convicted for bringing two Nigerian women to the United States and forcing them to work in her plush home as slaves. U.S. District Judge William Duffey Jr. sentenced her to 140 months in jail Thursday.
Bello apologized to her two victims, present in the Atlanta courtroom to hear firsthand their abuser's punishment. Bello also apologized to her prosecutors, said U.S. Attorney Susan Coppedge.
"We are very pleased with the sentence," she said. "I think it fits the facts of the case."
Those facts amounted to "shocking modern-day slavery," said Brock Nicholson, the special agent in charge of immigration and homeland security investigations in Atlanta.
Bello had promised the two young women, identified as Laome and Dupe in court, and their families that she would send them to school in the United States, according to court documents. Instead, she beat them and abused them emotionally.
At her trial, her victims testified that she beat them if the house were not clean enough or if they did not respond fast enough to a crying child or if Bello felt they had been disrespectful. She used a large wooden spoon, shoes, electrical cords and even her bare hands.
One of the women took a picture of her bruises with a disposable camera.
Bellow lived in an upscale home with many bedrooms. But the two women slept on the floor or on a couch. They were not allowed to use the shower or eat the food they cooked. Instead, they were forced to eat that was spoiled or moldy. Laome said she often threw up and at least on one occasion, Bello made her eat her vomit.
Laome was only 17 when Bello plucked her from her home in 2001. Dupe was 20 in 2004 when she came to the United States. Both traveled on fake passports.
Neither was sent to school as promised.
All of this was going on as Bello applied for and obtained U.S. citizenship. She lost that citizenship in her sentencing Thursday.
Laome eventually escaped by hiding in a car. The driver covered her with blankets and sped off while Bello was at a party.
Dupe managed to save $60 and called a cab that drove her to a church.
A federal jury convicted Bello June 10 on eight counts: two counts each of forced labor, trafficking for forced labor and making false statements in an application to become a U.S. citizen, and one count each of document servitude and alien harboring.
A phone call to Bello's attorney was not returned Friday.
Globally, an estimated 12.3 million adults and children - 56% of whom are women and girls - are the victims of forced labor, bonded labor and sex slavery, according to the U.S. State Department. The trade puts approximately $32 billion into the pockets of traffickers each year.
Coppedge said she was sure similar cases exist in Atlanta and elsewhere in the United States.
"Unfortunately, yes," she said. "I do think there are others."
Her office urged anyone with information on a human trafficking case to contact the Atlanta FBI at (404) 679-9000.
– CNN's Dana Ford contributed to this story.