Bolaji Bolarinwa, a Nigerian woman based in New Jersey, has been sentenced to 45 months in a US prison.
This is due to her conviction for forced labour and other offences. These crimes relate to her coercive actions, which forced two victims to carry out domestic work and childcare duties in her home.
The United States Department of Justice announced this in a statement on Friday, 9 May 2025.
Bolarinwa, aged 51, from Moorestown, was previously found guilty of two counts of forced labour, one count of alien harbouring for financial gain, and two counts of document servitude following a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Karen M. Williams in Camden federal court. Judge Williams handed down the sentence today in Camden federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and the evidence presented at trial, from December 2015 to October 2016, Bolarinwa – originally from Nigeria, but living in New Jersey as a U.S. citizen – recruited two victims to come to the United States and then coerced them to perform domestic labour and childcare services for her children through physical harm, threats of physical harm, isolation, constant surveillance, and psychological abuse.
The defendant engaged in this conduct knowing that one of the victims was without lawful immigration status while working in her home.
Once the first victim arrived in the United States in December 2015, Bolarinwa confiscated her passport and coerced her through threats of physical harm to her and her daughter, verbal abuse, isolation, and constant surveillance to compel her to work every day, around-the-clock for nearly a year.
Bolarinwa then recruited a second victim to come to the United States on a student visa. When the second victim arrived in the United States in April 2016, Bolarinwa similarly confiscated her passport and coerced her to perform household work and childcare, but relied more heavily on physical abuse.
The two victims lived and worked in Bolarinwa’s home until October 2016, when the second victim notified a professor at her college, who reported the information to the FBI.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Williams sentenced Bolarinwa to three years of supervised release, imposed a $35,000 fine, and ordered Bolarinwa to pay $87,518.72 in restitution to the victims of her offences.
“The defendant exploited her relationship with the victims to lure them to the United States with false promises,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
“The defendant confiscated the victims’ immigration documents and subjected them to threats, physical force, and mental abuse to coerce them to work long hours for minimal pay. This prosecution should send a strong message that such forced labor will not be tolerated in our communities. The Justice Department is committed to fully enforcing our federal human trafficking statutes to vindicate the rights of survivors and hold human traffickers accountable for such shameful exploitation of vulnerable victims.”
“Today’s sentence vindicates the rights of two vulnerable women who the defendant subjected to grueling hours and coercive abuse in her home,” said U.S. Attorney Alina Habba for District of New Jersey. “Forced labor and human trafficking are atrocious crimes that have no place in our society. My office and the entire Department of Justice is committed to standing up for vulnerable human trafficking victims and holding their traffickers accountable.”
“Human nature is generally good. There are situations though that prove some people display more cruel and inhumane behavior,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly of the FBI Newark Field Office. “Bolarinwa lured women with false promises, held them captive, and forced them clean her home and care for her children. Then took it a sickening step further by physically abusing them. Luckily, one of the victims had the courage to tell someone. We ask anyone who notices an odd situation, something that doesn't look or feel right, to please call us so we can help victims that may be hiding in plain sight.”
The sentence handed down today is thanks to the investigation by special agents of the FBI. This was led by Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly in Newark. U.S. Attorney Alina Habba for the District of New Jersey acknowledged their work.
The case was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey’s Human Trafficking Task Force. This task force was set up in 2025. It brings together different government agencies, both federal and state, to work together. They share resources to fight human trafficking and bring those who commit these crimes to justice, keeping the community safe.
The Human Trafficking Task Force includes the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the Internal Revenue Service, and the New Jersey Office of Attorney General.
The government's case was presented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Bender for the District of New Jersey and Trial Attorney Elizabeth Hutson from the Civil Rights Division’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit.