Three men are facing federal charges following an investigation into an alleged forced labor operation at a flooring manufacturing company in Cartersville. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia says Zhu Chen, 60, and Jiayi Chen, 31, both of Cartersville, along with Jianjun Lu, 55, of China, have been indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit forced labor and forced labor. Zhu Chen, identified by federal prosecutors as the owner of Cartersville-based Wellmade Industries, is also charged with alien harboring. According to the allegations outlined by federal prosecutors, Zhu Chen, Jiayi Chen and Lu recruited Chinese nationals under false pretenses to enter the United States on B-1 and L-1 visas and work at the flooring manufacturing facility. Prosecutors allege that after the workers arrived in the United States, they were required to work 12-hour shifts, six days a week, under unsafe factory conditions. The defendants are also accused of paying the workers less than they had been promised and threatening them with deportation and substantial debts if they stopped working at the factory. Federal authorities further allege that foreign workers were housed in overcrowded and dirty residences. Prosecutors say some individuals were housed in residences owned by Wellmade Industries despite the defendants allegedly knowing those individuals did not have legal status in the United States. U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said the allegations include…
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