The catering manager of the Thatched Cottage in Centerport has been sentenced to six years in prison for forcing immigrant workers to work up to 16 hours a day and sleep on bug-infested, garbage bag-covered mattresses without any water or heat, prosecutors say.
Roberto Villanueva was sentenced in a federal court in Central Islip on Wednesday after having previously pleaded guilty in February to forced labor and forced labor conspiracy.
Villanueva is accused of taking advantage of the immigration status of his victims, threatening have them arrested or deported if they refused to comply with his excessive and dehumanizing work demands and often not even paying them for their services, according to U.S. Attorney Breon Peace.
The workers in question hailed from the Philippines on work visas that expired shortly after their arrival in the United States.
Officials say that the former owner of Thatched Cottage, Ralph Colamussi, was involved in Villanueva’s mistreatment of the immigrant workers as well.
