Appeals filed for slavery convictions
Appeals filed for slavery convictions
The convictions and sentences of three members of the Ike Kozminski on slavery charges are headed for a higher court.
A claim of appeal, filed in Detroit by attorney Carl Ziemba for the Kozminskis, was transferred to the U.S. District Court in Ann Arbor on Monday.
Ike Kozminski, 61, and wife Margarethe, 56, were found guilty by a jury in February for slavery and conspiracy to violate civil rights of two mentally retarded farmhands. They were later sentenced to two years probation each plus a $20,000 fine for him.
Their son John, 30, was sentenced to two-year probation and fined $10,000 on the conspiracy charge. Prison terms ranging from 10 to 20 years for the three were suspended by U.S. District Judge Charles W. Joiner.
Federal authorities had charged that the civil rights of Robert Fulmer, 57, and Louis Molitoris, 60, were violated while they worked on the Kozminski farm with no or little wages over a period of several years.