UK Couple Sentenced to 25 Years for Enslaving Migrants to Fund Gambling

Bristol Crown Court sentenced Marcos Tancos and Joanna Gomulska to a combined 25 years in prison for trafficking 29 vulnerable individuals into the United Kingdom. The couple exploited the migrants by forcing them to endure appalling living conditions and robbing them of their wages.

Between 2010 and 2017, the couple defrauded the victims of £300,000 ($367,640), with most of the funds going to online casinos. The National Crime Agency eventually apprehended the perpetrators when one victim fled to Slovakia and reported the matter to local authorities.

The court indicted the couple with nine counts of forced labour and human trafficking and one conspiracy charge to obtain illegal assets. Tancos was sentenced to 16 years in jail, while Gomulska received a nine-year jail term.