Lawsuit settled in harboring case at Llenroc

Annie George, owner of the Llenroc mansion in Rexford, left, leaves the Federal Courthouse in Albany in March 2013 following jury selection in a trial where she is accused of harboring an illegal alien for financial gain.

The undocumented immigrant harbored in the Llenroc mansion has settled her lawsuit against the woman convicted of harboring her, but the settlement she’ll receive was disappointing, according to her attorney.

Attorneys for Valsamma Mathai, who is now in the country legally and living locally, confirmed that they settled with Annie George for $20,000.

A Labor Department official had testified at George’s federal criminal trial in 2013 that she could owe Mathai up to $317,000 for time worked.

And because of George’s financial troubles, Mathai might not even see that amount, her attorney said.

Meanwhile, the government’s effort to seize the mansion continued on two fronts: Saratoga County is moving to seize it for back taxes and the federal government is claiming George’s stake in the property as a result of her conviction.

A federal judge this past Monday also denied a request from George, who is on probation, to allow her to travel to India to spend time with her ailing mother.

The court granted two earlier requests, the judge’s order reads, but denied this one, noting she has failed to pay the costs of her home detention.

A federal criminal jury convicted George of harboring an undocumented immigrant at Llenro. She was sentenced to eight months of home confinement and five years of probation. The same jury acquitted her of a more serious charge.

The jury found George knew or should have known Mathai, an Indian citizen who had lived with the family for more than five years, was not in the country legally and that George prevented Mathai’s presence from being detected.

Llenroc is an imposing and costly mansion overlooking the Mohawk River in Rexford.

An attorney listed for George could not be reached for comment this week.

The attorneys for Mathai filed suit against George after the conviction, seeking back wages and damages, alleging human trafficking, violations of the 13th Amendment outlawing slavery and involuntary servitude, as well as violations of federal and state wage and hour laws.

The two sides finalized the settlement in February.

Thomas Feeney, of the group that helped Mathai bring the suit, Worker Justice Center of New York, explained this week that George’s financial situation played a main role in the settlement.

“As we got further and further, it became very clear that the defendant was having substantial financial troubles and that it was going to be difficult if and when we prevailed to really get anything out of her,” Feeney said. “We wanted to get a judgment quickly to be able to start the enforcement effort.”

Prosecutors contended at trial that Mathai agreed to work for the Georges in 2005 for $1,000 per month but ended up working 17-hour days without a day off. Mathai had previously worked in New York legally for a family serving at the United Nations. Once she left them and made her way to the George family, her status became illegal.

For more than five years of work, she only received about $24,000 in pay, prosecutors said.

Mathai testified that she cared for the George children from 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day, for more than five years with no time off for vacation, sickness or personal time.

Over the 66 months she worked for the family, she should have been paid $66,000, prosecutors contended.

Her immigration status notwithstanding, a Labor Department official calculated in testimony that for 17 hours per day over five and a half years, labor laws meant she was owed more than $317,000, calculated at minimum wage.

Feeney said this week that Mathai “she’s doing fantastic.”

He said she remains in the Capital Region, is working and has a status that allows her to stay in the country as long as she wants.

In addition to her sentence, the federal government won the right to seize her stake in the Llenroc mansion.

A federal appeals court last year upheld George’s conviction and the seizure of her stake in the mansion. Documents filed, however, indicate the seizure process is ongoing.

The home is officially owned by a corporation called Power Angels LLC, which is made up of George family members. Her attorneys have said she controls 10 percent of the corporation. Prosecutors, however, have argued the corporation shouldn’t matter because the harboring crime predated the corporation’s formation.

Filings indicate those issues have yet to be resolved.

Saratoga County Attorney Stephen Dorsey this week said the county has begun tax foreclosure proceedings on the property, but the process has been slowed by owner filings.

County records indicate the property is currently behind more than $380,000 in property taxes for the years 2013 to 2015. He said the county process is moving forward independent of the federal issues.

Llenroc, which is “Cornell” spelled backward, was built in 1990 by insurance magnate Albert Lawrence. He never made public what he paid to build the mansion, but its total construction cost was rumored to be well over $10 million.

The home has since been sold twice, both times for less than $2 million. Testimony at the 2013 trial indicated the Georges had not only fallen behind on taxes, but also fallen far behind on routine repairs.

Reach Gazette reporter Steven Cook at 395-3122, [email protected] or @ByStevenCook on Twitter.