Two Edinburg residents were sentenced on Monday after pleading guilty to holding a migrant hostage and forcing her to work for them for free, according to a news release. 

Eduardo Javier Gomez, 32, and his former partner Margarita Alvarez, 42, pleaded guilty to the charges in March 2023, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of Texas. 

Gomez received a 70-month prison sentence, while Alvarez received two years of probation.

The former couple were initially indicted in July 2021 on charges of hostage taking and labor trafficking.

READ MORE: Edinburg couple previously charged with hostage taking facing new charges

According to a news release, Gomez was holding a woman who had been smuggled into the Rio Grande Valley in his home.

“Gomez was requesting further payment from family members in exchange for the victim being moved further north,” the news release stated. “When the family was unable to pay, the couple took the victim’s phone and forced her to work as a nanny and housekeeper in the home Gomez and Alvarez shared.”

Gomez also managed a fireworks stand where the migrant was forced to work for free, the release noted.

“No one should be forced to live in a world of isolation, servitude and terror, particularly in a country that prides itself on its freedoms,” HSI San Antonio Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee said in a statement. “This case is a sad reflection on human greed and heartlessness that people believe they can engage in this kind of egregious exploitation with impunity. This sentence should send a message to those who traffic in human beings — that HSI and is committed to protecting those cannot protect themselves.”