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A weed farm boss who trapped three migrant workers on a remote Northern California property, withholding their wages and leaving them stranded for months, has been sentenced to less then a year behind bars.
Georgi Antonov Tonev, 45, of Los Angeles, was sentenced Thursday to 320 days in jail after being convicted of multiple crimes against the three Spanish-speaking migrants, including false imprisonment, felony grand theft of wages and unlawful possession of cannabis for sale, the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office announced.
The nightmare began in 2025, when Mexican migrant Javier Escamilla-Garcia was working in Tennessee and heard about Tonev’s seemingly lucrative offer: $3,500 a month, plus free housing and meals, to work on his cannabis farm.
Escamilla-Garcia saved enough money to make the trip to Humboldt County, where two other migrant workers later arrived after receiving the same promise of steady pay.
Instead, authorities said, the men were effectively imprisoned at Tonev’s Showers Pass Farm, a remote property about two hours from his home in Bridgeville.
The workers were kept behind a locked gate without a key and were told Tonev was monitoring them through surveillance cameras.
“All three workers were trapped at the farm and were reminded that they were not allowed to leave unless they walked,” the DA said.
The men spoke no English and had no transportation, no way to get into town and no money. Flooded roads eventually left them even more isolated.
“Food was delivered sporadically and no safe drinking water was supplied,” the DA said. “Two victims suffered medical complications as a result that necessitated professional medical care.”
Eventually with no payment for their work, two of the three men took off, leaving Escamilla-Garcia alone, with no car and no money.
Tonev promised the migrant if he worked through the trimming season, he would pay him all his wages once he sold the weed on the black market, authorities said.
But Escamilla-Garcia spent five months completely isolated on the farm, authorities said. By February 2026, heavy snow was hitting the area, and after going unpaid for 10 months of labor, he feared he would die if he did not escape.
He managed to contact the Mexican Consulate through Facebook Messenger. The consulate alerted the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department, which launched search-and-rescue efforts and found him.
Before remanding Tonev into custody, Judge Steven Steward condemned the exploitation, describing it as “a profound imbalance of power.”
“Tonev controlled their wages, he controlled their living conditions, he controlled their access to food, shelter, and water. And he abused his power,” Steward said.
“The seriousness of Mr. Tonev’s actions cannot be measured by just the dollar amounts he stole from workers.”
In addition to the 320-day jail sentence, Tonev must serve two years of felony probation, with a three-year-and-four-month prison term suspended, according to the DA’s office.
He was also ordered to pay all the unpaid wages to his three victims, with the DA seeking more than $120,000 in restitution for them.