The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Kansas said six members of a former cult in Kansas City have been convicted in a forced-labor scheme that involved a number of children.
After a trial that lasted 26 days, a jury returned guilty verdicts for Kaaba Majeed, 50; Yunus Rassoul, 39; James Staton, 62; Randolph Rodney Hadley, 49; Daniel Aubrey Jenkins, 43; and Dana Peach, 60, of conspiracy to commit forced labor. The jury additionally convicted Kaaba Majeed of five counts of forced labor. Two other co-defendants, Etenia Kinard, 48, and Jacelyn Greenwell, 45, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit forced labor.
The six were were all former high-ranking members of the United Nation of Islam (UNOI), or were wives to the UNOI founder, Royall Jenkins.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said the group promised to educate and teach life skills to its members, but instead forced them into labor. There were over a dozen victims, including children as young as 8, who worked in UNOI-owned and operated restaurants, bakeries, gas stations, laboratory and a clothing and sewing factory, often up to 16 hours a day. The victims also provided child care and domestic services inside defendants’ homes. None of the victims was ever compensated for the years of work they performed at UNOI businesses or at the behest of the defendants. Prosecutors said the victims all lived in deplorable conditions, in overcrowded facilities often overrun with mold, mice and rats. In contrast, the defendants and their immediate families lived comfortably.
Sentencing hearings have been scheduled for February 18th, 2025.
