Sou Brothers Should Receive Stiff Prison Time For "Human Trafficking"

THE DOCTOR IS IN
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LAS VEGAS- Hello America, and how is the world treating you?

Two prominent and popular brothers who operate the second-largest vegetable farm in Hawaii will come up for sentencing in federal court this week. These two sleaze ball brothers (Alec and Mike Sou) were convicted of shipping 44 laborers from Thailand and forcing them to work on their farm. That move was part of a path to the United States that actually cornered foreign field hands into slave labor jobs.They were committing the felony crime of "human trafficking" and the two brothers did plead guilty to the crimes.

These two brothers confiscated the workers passports,If the workers complained the two farm owners threatened to send them back to Thailand without any way to repay the approximate $20,000 that was borrowed as a recruitment fee. The workers were trapped on the farm. The workers were housed in small cramped mobile storage containers and told not to leave the farm property after their days work and the workers were denied any pay for months on end.

But despite the illegal and unconscionable criminal acts that the Sou brothers committed on a regular basis so that they could make money there are many prominent persons writing the judge and asking that these two criminals not be sent to prison.

The argument is that Aloun Farms is to big to fail. These idiot upstanding citizens like Kioni Dudley, president of the community group, Friends of Makakilo who wrote U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway for a slap on the wrist sentence says that the incarceration of these two low life brothers"would threaten the food security in Hawaii and could endanger our future sustainability on Oahu."

There have been approximately 120 letters to the judge supporting the two Sou brothers saying that they are important to Hawaii's agriculture industry and that the farm provides 200 jobs. Hey! Important to the agriculture industry by using forced slave labor? Where's the priorities people?

Others that came to the defense of these two criminals were former Democratic Governor Ben Cayetano and former Democratic Governor John Waihee and former head of the state Land Board, the state Department of Agriculture, the Hawaii Foodbank and also (two banks) who are owed money from the Sou brothers and former employees. Is there a personal axe to grind in defending these two brothers by these supporters? Do ya think? Here's two brothers that operated Aloun farms that for years contributed to the politicians and community and these banks that are owed money by the brothers. Come on! The self interests by these supports are so obvious it smells, and smells really bad.

I hope the judge can see through all of these self-serving letters from people that may have benefited from the monies provided by the Sou brothers over the years.

In addition to all of the political support from past politicians and others that have an agenda to protect these two for reasons only known to them the two brothers are pleading for a light sentence from Judge Mollway. To make things sound better to the judge the Sou brothers attorneys said: Our people got caught up in something which they admit to. They wish they hadn't done this, and they're sorry for getting involved." Oh, BOO HOO.

Read between the lines of that statement and it boils down to the brothers are only sorry for being caught. If they hadn't got caught the crimes would continue to go on.The defense attorneys and these supporters who have an interest in these bad guys want people to feel sorry for them. One of the attorneys who represents Mike Sou tries to rationalize the serious crime of "human trafficking" by going on to say: "Nobody was tortured, nobody was abused, nobody was physically threatened in any manner." Is he kidding? I suggest there are many levels of abuse and the definition of torture is still being debated around the world-(i.e., is it torture to be confined in a small mobile unit? Or is it torture or abuse when a person is threatened to be sent out of the country owing $20,000 to $30,000 to employment recruiters that may threaten physical harm? Could be. It's how one might look at the definition of torture and abuse.

Crackdowns on "human trafficking" should be heavy and swift. Federal indictments and penalties against these types of employers should result in prison time from five(5) to twenty (20) years, at least. Judge Mollway should look at the severity of harm these sleazy brothers committed against the workers and consider how long these dastardly acts have being going on. I would think this practice was going on for years.

I would suggest that these brothers are predisposed to commit these types of crimes. For example, if a car thief only steals "red Corvettes" and has stolen 25 red Corvettes, the chances are the 26th. car the thief will steal is a red Corvette.Predisposition is a big thing. In this case these two admitted criminals repeatedly were involved in human trafficking" and apparently that was the norm for these brothers and their farm operations. I would also suspect that this behavior by the Sou brothers has been going on for years and years while those with a vested interest in their dealing with the Sou brothers turned a blind eye to their actions and tactics.

Finally, my thoughts on this matter is that there is "no business" that is to big to fail. If these two are sent to prison for years you can bet that the business will go on, one way or the other.Further, I say that no one or two persons are indispensable. Others in the farm operation can carry out the day to day operations without missing a beat. Worse case scenario-- let the farm operation go into bankruptcy and another corporation, firm and/or individual would probably buy the operation. Folks, no one is above the law. Bottom line. Send these two admitted human traffickers to some stiff prison time. They are clearly poster boys for "human smuggling."- And, that's my opinion. Make your own decisions. You decide.

Bradley W. Kuhns, Ph.D., O.M.D.
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Dr. Kuhns can be reached by e-mail at:
bradleykuhns@gmail.com