Alec Sou of Aloun Farms thought the required wage for 44 Thai workers was too high, but agreed to accept $2,500 for each laborer from their recruitment fees, a prosecution witness testified Wednesday in the forced labor trial of Sou and his brother, Mike Sou.

Matee Chowsanitphon, a Thai-born California resident who prosecutors described as the middle man between the Thai recruiters and Aloun Farms, said he asked Alec Sou if he would be interested in the money as an "incentive" for hiring the workers.

"He touched my hand," and agreed to the offer, Chowsanitphon said.

The money would come from Chowsanitphon’s share of the recruitment fees the Thai workers paid, he said.

Under cross-examination, Chowsanitphon said he didn’t think he was doing anything wrong.

But he said he pleaded guilty to a felony charge in the case only after the prosecution’s former lead attorney, Susan French, told him he had committed a crime by accepting recruitment fees.

The issue of the legality of the fees came up Tuesday when French acknowledged she was inaccurate when she suggested to Chowsanitphon before a federal grand jury that the fees were illegal.

At the time, the law did not prohibit recruitment fees.

French was excused from the case as lead counsel later Tuesday for undisclosed health reasons.

Chowsanitphon is considered a key prosecution witness in the trial of the Sous, who are accused of breaking promises to the 44 workers and forcing them to work at the farm under threat of deportation.

Chowsanitphon, 57, who has been a U.S. citizen for about 16 years, pleaded guilty in 2009 to a felony charge related to visa fraud and received a sentence of house arrest and probation.

With the help of a Thai interpreter, he testified he agreed to split the recruitment fees collected from the workers by the Thai recruiter, William Khoo.

The prosecution said the fee was as high as $20,000 for each laborer, who were supposed to be paid more than $9 an hour under the farmworker visa program.

Chowsanitphon testified his share after expenses was about $150,000.

He testified that when the workers arrived at the farm in September 2004, they were upset to learn that they were not going to get paid the money that was promised.

But he also said the workers were not notified about tax withholding and other deductions that would reduce their paychecks.

Under defense questioning, Chowsanitphon said he never heard either defendant or anyone else threaten the workers.

He also said under the contract with the Thai recruiter, if the workers didn’t like the job, they could return to Thailand and get their money back from the recruiter.