N.Y. Court Told of Immigrants’ Torture

Deaf Mexican immigrants forced to peddle trinkets on subways and streets were punished with a stun gun if they did not sell enough or tried to escape, said a 26-year-old man who told a judge that he helped with the torture. Agustino Rodriguez Torres, himself a deaf Mexican immigrant, made his statement through his lawyer as he pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn to criminal conspiracy involving his role as an enforcer. Torres is one of 20 people indicted on charges that they forced 60 Mexican immigrants to peddle trinkets for $1 apiece. The scheme, in operation since 1993 in New York and other cities, earned upward of $1 million a year, federal officials say.