

Ministry had growing empire before forced-labor charges

September 11, 2019
Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The leader of a Southern California ministry charged with using deadbolt locks to detain homeless residents and making them turn over panhandling money was no fly-by-night operator. Imperial Valley Ministries was known in the remote desert region for decades of work helping drug addicts turn their lives around.

The ministry operated a ranch for men, a group home for women and a small headquarters office on one of the busiest streets in El Centro, a city of 45,000 people in a region of scorching summers, high unemployment and bountiful winter harvests that supply supermarkets across the United States. Residents were seen at intersections in burgundy T-shirts with the ministry's name emblazoned in white letters, asking idled motorists for money and giving them a brochure about the ministry's work and a choice of peanuts or candy.


A list of 29 house rules cited in an indictment unsealed Tuesday describes how the ministry kept a tight hold on residents in a cult-like atmosphere. They were prohibited from discussing "things of the world" and reading anything but the Bible, forced to surrender all identification and personal belongings, avoid family contact for the first 30 days and relinquish all earnings.

"You can't leave the house unless accompanied by someone and with the permission from the director -- never by yourself," the rules sheet read. "You can't go to the front yard, unless told so by the counselor."

Victor Gonzalez, the ministry's 40-year-old former pastor of Brownsville, Texas, his 39-year-old wife, Susan Christine Leyva, and 10 others are charged with crimes including forced labor and benefits fraud. The defendants allegedly confiscated magnetic-striped cards that are used for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps.

Jose Morales, 47, of San Diego, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday. Other defendants were scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday. No one responded to phone and email messages left Wednesday with the ministry, and it was unclear if the defendants had attorneys.


"We certainly encountered a lot of people who were very appreciative of going cold turkey and getting off of drugs," Christopher Tenorio, an assistant U.S. attorney based in San Diego, said Wednesday.

The ministry was founded in the 1970s and opened its first group home in 1992. Tenorio said the founders, who were not named in the indictment and are now elderly, turned over the reins to Gonzalez in 2013, which is when abuses began to escalate.






Spread the Love, a charity that provides day shelter, counseling and other services to homeless people, noticed people began showing up about two years ago from Imperial Valley Ministries, saying they wanted to go home but had no money, said Jessica Solorio, its founder. She called the ministry but no one responded to her calls until the FBI raid, after which time Gonzalez came to her office and reimbursed her for dozens of bus tickets.

"I never knew of anything bad," said Solorio, who opened her charity in 2015. "They tried to help people off the streets. They had a ranch with animals to keep them busy. There was never anything from the outside looking in that looked horrible."



"We tried to help her out as much as we could," Gonzalez said, as reported by KYMA-TV of Yuma, Arizona. "We tried to help her out even to bring her son, and the mom was always in denial."

The ministry drew mixed reviews online. One woman who called it "a cult" said she was grateful that her daughter turned sober during a 7-month stay but that the ministry pitted her child against her family and forced residents to stay on the streets peddling candy until they met a quota.



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