On Wednesday (26 September, 2018), the former owner of the Centerport Thatched Cottage catering hall pled guilty to a federal charge of forced labor. Federal prosecutors claimed that he physically threatened immigrant workers, while also paying them substandard wages. 64-year-old Ralph Colamussi from Huntington appeared in a Central Islip court in front of US District Judge, Denis R Hurley, who ordered him to a pay a fine of around $250,000 and make restitution.
As a part of the plea agreement, Colamussi admitted to employing Filipino immigrants and threatening them if they complained about their working conditions or pay. He also forced some immigrant workers to make fraudulent applications for student visas after the expiration of their short-term H2-B US visas, which allowed them to temporarily work in the US.
Colamussi was indicted in December, together with Roberto Villanueva, his former manager, on six counts. They included fraudulent foreign labor contracting, forced labor, conspiracy to commit forced labor, and US visa fraud. Villanueva will stand in front of Hurley on 5 October, and currently intends to go trial, according to his attorney, Edward Jenks.
Prosecutors claim that between 2008 and 2014, Colamussi and Villanueva lured Filipino immigrant workers to Long Island by promising them lucrative work at the Thatched Cottage event and wedding venue. They then paid less money than they had promised, using threats of physical violence against the workers and their families, saying that they would report them to US immigration authorities.