'It's tragic: 5 indicted, accused of forced immigrant labor at farms in Kenosha, Racine counties

KENOSHA COUNTY -- Five people are charged in a human trafficking scheme spanning from Georgia to Wisconsin. According to federal prosecutors, migrant workers were threatened with abuse and deportation.

Those charged include:

According to federal court documents, 14 victims told federal investigators they had their passports taken away, were given false green cards, and they weren't allowed to leave or talk to anyone. The victims were taken to Wisconsin from Georgia and forced to work on farms.

Prosecutors said the scheme was orchestrated by Saul Garcia and his family. Investigators said they brought the workers to Kenosha County and Racine County via school bus between 2015 and 2016. Records showed some of the workers ended up at a farm in Caledonia.

The victims said the Garcia family gave them fake names and fake green cards -- forcing them to withstand horrible living and working conditions. They told investigators the Garcia family restricted their movements, withheld their passports, and threatened deportation and financial harm. All 14 of the workers were Mexican nationals with visas, brought to the United States to work in Georgia.

"Especially for things like this, it's important people come forward," said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, an immigrant advocacy group. "I felt sadness, because it's obviously tragic that people are being forced to live under, basically, slave-like conditions. We need to recognize that they're human beings and they are deserving of rights and dignity."

Below is a statement from Borzynski Farms:

If convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years in prison.