SOMIS : Charges Against Grower Reinstated
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A federal grand jury in Los Angeles on Thursday reinstated racketeering charges against a Ventura County flower grower who is accused of enslaving at least 60 Mexican laborers at his Somis ranch in the 1980s.
The new indictment alleges that Edwin M. Ives, 54, his wife, Dolly, 48, and nine employees of the Griffith-Ives Co. unlawfully invested racketeering income and illegally transferred money across state lines.
Also reinstated were charges that Ives’ laborers were not paid overtime despite working 16 hours a day. Ives is accused of paying workers only about $1 an hour.
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