Because two jurors had read a newspaper article related to the case, a United States federal judge Monday declared a mistrial against a group that allegedly brought Filipino teachers, including some from Negros Occidental, illegally to El Paso, Texas.

The case will have to start over with a new jury, the El Paso Times reported yesterday.

The jurors had been instructed not to read newspaper articles, watch televised news or talk to anyone about the case, a standard instruction, the El Paso Times said.

The mistrial was declared by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone after two months of hearing when two male jurors admitted to reading the article that appeared in the El Paso Times.

Noel Cedro Tolentino, his wife, Angelica Tolentino and his mother, Florita Tolentino had been indicted on about 40 counts, including conspiracy to smuggle aliens, visa fraud and money laundering, the El Paso Times reported.

Tolentino's business, OMNI Consortium, provided teachers for the Socorro, Ysleta, Canutillo and El Paso independent school districts with fraudulent visas, prosecutors said. The three have pleaded not guilty.

A verdict on the case had been expected by the end of this month, a Bacolod teacher, who was one of the 200 teachers from the Philippines recruited by the accused for jobs in Texas nearly four years ago, said.

The 38-year-old teacher said she was recruited in Bacolod City but when she arrived in Texas no job was waiting for her.

The Bacoleña told the DAILY STAR she attended a seminar for teachers seeking jobs in the United States at a hotel in Bacolod City in April 2001 and that was the first time she met Florita Tolentino.

At the time she was teaching at a public elementary school in Bacolod but she decided to take on the job promised in Texas because she was told her monthly salary in the US would be more than her annual salary in the Philippines, and she would also have the chance to become a US resident.

In Texas she got in touch with the US Immigration and Naturalization Service to seek help, she said.

The Bacoleña said she told the US customs agent who got in touch with her that she decided to seek government help as she and the other teachers were victims.

The Bacoleña and the other teachers who told the truth about what happened were given Employment Authorization Cards and Deferred Action letters for their status in the US that has allowed them to work while the trial is ongoing.*CPG

back to top