Monday and Tuesday, the Montauban court judged a case of trafficking of Moroccan seasonal workers, a case which goes well beyond the limits of the department. This workforce was employed on agricultural farms in Tarn-et-Garonne in Verdun and Sérignac, but also in Brittany, in the Center Val-de-Loire and in Burgundy. Tuesday evening, the two main defendants were sentenced to one year in prison under house arrest with an electronic bracelet. This decision is very far from the requisitions of the public prosecutor, who had requested three years in prison and a fine of €150,000. The court dismissed the organized gang leaders, which considerably reduced the sentences. The other defendants, often considered as front men in charge of shell companies, were given suspended prison sentences of 12 to 18 months. This relative leniency of the court surprised many observers, who expected more severe sanctions given the scale and complexity of the case.
