A susperseding indictment has been filed against the owners of I Do, I Do Wedding Shop in Flagstaff for exploiting the labor of immigrant Vietnamese nationals, including children. The two-year joint investigation into the family’s activity – dubbed “Operation Broken Promises” – involved at least five victims, now living throughout the United States.
Flagstaff residents Huong Thi “Kelly” McReynolds, Joseph Minh McReynolds, Vincent Minh McReynolds, and James Hartful McReynolds, were named in the indictment. According to the indictment, the McReynolds family brought the victims into the United States by offering them a better life, including promises of happy marriages to United States citizens and educational opportunities. Shortly after the victims arrived in the Flagstaff, they discovered that the McReynolds family would not fulfill their promises. The victims instead faced compelled servitude in the McReynolds’ home and business.
The McReynolds family engaged in modern-day slavery to support their business. The FBI and Department of Labor, HSI was able to document nearly a decade of abuse perpetrated by this family.
Allegedly beginning in September 2001, Huong McReynolds brought Vietnamese nationals to Flagstaff, or found them there, where she and her family members housed them and forced them to work seven days a week in the family’s bridal shop—I Do, I Do Bridal. At least until December 2008, Huong McReynolds and her two sons, Joseph and Vincent, compelled the victims to work long hours with little or no pay. Between September 2001 and December 2008, the Vietnamese workers cycled through the bridal shop, with their “employment” ending either by their escaping or being “evicted.”
Members of the McReynolds family, including Huong, Joseph, and James, each married Vietnamese victims. The victims believed they would be entering legitimate marriages with these McReynolds family members. Huong McReynolds shepherded victims through the visa process, to include coaching them prior to their interviews at the consulate. Once the victims were in the United States, Huong McReynolds confiscated their passports and identification, and informed them that they would not only be working at her home, but also long hours in their bridal shop. Despite their marriages to the victims, Huong McReynolds and James McReynolds, who divorced in 1996, continued to live together as husband and wife. Both before and after Joseph McReynolds’ marriage to one of the Vietnamese victims, he was living with a U.S. citizen, with whom he fathered children both before and during his fraudulent marriage.
One victim who “escaped” from the McReynold’s residence was reported by Huong McReynolds to immigration authorities for committing “marriage fraud.”
Regarding the I Do, I Do Wedding Shop and other real property in Flagstaff, the United States District Court has issued a Restraining Order to preserve that property, and to prevent the removal or sale of such assets prior to the resolution of the criminal forfeiture proceedings included in the Indictment.
A conviction for a violation of Conspiring to Engage in Forced Labor carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both. A conviction for a violation of Forced Labor carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both. A conviction for Unlawful Conduct With Respect to Documents in Furtherance of Forced Labor carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both. A conviction for a violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act carries a maximum penalty of 6 months in prison, $10,000 or both. Finally, a conviction for a violation of Conspiring to Engage in Marriage Fraud carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.
The investigation was conducted by ICE HSI, the FBI, the United States Department of Labor, and the United States Marshal’s Service.