73
The government does not have to pay the legal cost of Aloun Farms owners Alec and Michael Sou for having to defend themselves against forced-labor charges that federal prosecutors dropped in the middle of trial.
U.S. District Chief Judge Susan Oki Mollway signed an order Wednesday denying the Sou brothers’ request for attorney fees.
The Sous had estimated the amount to be close to $500,000.
Their request was based on federal law that allows defendants the ability to recover fees and cost when the government’s prosecution is “frivolous” or groundless with little chance of success.
In the order, Mollway noted that the Sous did plead guilty in 2010. They later withdrew their pleas after Mollway rejected their plea deals.
The Sous went to trial this summer on charges related to 44 farm workers who were imported from Thailand. The trial ended Aug. 4 when federal prosecutors dismissed the case “in the interest of justice.”
