Man indicted on forced labor accusations in Edinburg

A federal grand jury has indicted a man over allegations he held three people against their will and forced them to work to pay off smuggling fees, with acts like selling drugs and working at a fireworks stand.

Eduardo Javier Gomez, a U.S. citizen born in 1991, is charged with three counts of forced labor.

(Read: NYPD tip leads feds to Edinburg man accused of harboring, forced labor)

He was indicted on July 27 and is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon.

That indictment indicates one other individual is charged with one count of forced labor, but that person’s name is redacted.

The charging document alleges that Gomez held three family members, who were in the country illegally, against their will and forced them to work for him by making them believe that if they did not comply they would face serious bodily injury or kidnapping.

The three people were able to tip off the New York City Police Department, where their relatives lived, by using the two to three minutes Gomez allowed to speak to them. They used an indigenous dialect to tell family members that one of them was working as a babysitter, while two others were being forced to work at a fireworks stand, according to the criminal complaint.

The investigation also revealed that one of these people was also forced to sit inside a vehicle outside an Edinburg bar called Los Amigos and sell drugs, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations wrote in the complaint.

Another person being held later told HSI that she watched Gomez preparing a white powdery substance she believed was cocaine by placing it into small bags her cousin was forced to sell, the complaint stated.

She also said Gomez frequently displayed a firearm in front of them and that he also carried a stun gun and handcuffs, according to HSI.

Federal authorities say the trio ended up with Gomez after they crossed illegally and another smuggler contacted their family in New York City and requested an additional $12,000 to smuggle them to Houston with $6,000 up front and $6,000 on arrival.

The family previously paid $4,500, authorities said.

The trio was then transferred to Gomez who asked for more money, which the family refused, according to the criminal complaint.

Federal authorities investigated the report received by the New York Police Department over two days in late June.

While conducting surveillance, they followed an SUV occupied by two women and three children leave the Edinburg residence and drive to Mission, and continued watching the vehicle for about two hours when it departed from Mission.

A Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office deputy pulled over the vehicle for speeding and failing to signal 100 feet prior to turning.

One of the women in the vehicle was one allegedly being held against her will and forced to work while the other was Gomez’s wife.

She spoke to agents and that same day HSI gained consent to search the Edinburg residence and found her two other family members, according to the complaint.

Federal authorities arrested Gomez at about 1:45 a.m. on July 9 after he went to the Mission Police Department looking for his family and refused HIS’s request to interview him.

Gomez is being held without bond pending the conclusion of the proceedings against him, court records show.