Inset: Ramiro Caal Jolomna (Chester County Prison). Background: Dave Sunday gestures while speaking to the audience in the Forum Auditorium across the street from the Capitol after taking the oath of office to become Pennsylvania”s next attorney general, Jan. 21, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Marc Levy).
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said his office filed human trafficking charges against a 36-year-old mushroom farmer who allegedly subjected two teen girls to backbreaking work with little to no pay.
Ramiro Caal Jolomna stands accused of trafficking in individuals, false imprisonment and involuntary servitude among other charges. According to the AG’s office, Jolomna charged two girls, ages 14 and 17, “debts” for bringing them into the country. He then forced them to work long hours, seven days a week, for “very little compensation or none at all” at the farm in Chester County, which is not far from Philadelphia, the AG’s office said.
If they did not work hard enough, Jolomna would threaten to punish or deport them, authorities said.
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“This is a disturbing set of facts involving a man preying on vulnerable girls who wanted to make an honest living and help their families back home,” Sunday said. “Labor trafficking, while not as often in the headlines, is cruel and dehumanizing behavior that forces victims into a routine of helplessness and silence.”
Jolomna brought the 14-year-old to the Keystone State from Mexico. After working 16-hour shifts for seven days a week, the defendant would force her to sign over her paycheck to him or his wife. She also had to clean Jolomna’s house.
The 17-year-old is from Guatemala. She came to the U.S. in hopes of earning money to send back to her sick father in her native country, but Jolomna allegedly pocketed the majority of her wages so she had very little money left.
The defendant was arraigned on the charges and is at the Chester County Prison on a $1 million bond. His next court date is scheduled for Oct. 3.
