Define: Irony

First off, apologies for not posting anything for over a week. I was on vacation at the Kane Resort in lovely Newton, MA and got caught up with a bunch of other things to do anything for this blog. Now, onto the story.

In an ironic twist in a bizarre story a Long Island, New York couple accused of enslaving two housekeepers have been granted bail - essentially freeing them until their trial for charges of federal forced labor and harboring undocumented immigrants. According to news reports, the couple - Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 35, of Indonesia and Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, of India - allegedly held two Indonesian women as housekeepers against their will paying them $100 a month that was sent to relatives abroad. The alleged enslavement lasted five years, from 2002 through 2007. But, it appears, the wealthy couple from Muttontown - a village of Nassau County whose median income is more than 3 times that of the rest of the nation - will be able to gain something that they held from these 2 women: freedom.

The best quote from the 1010WINS article today came from the couple's lawyer Stephen P. Scaring. "We're trying to get them out as soon as possible," he said. "They're excited to get home to their children." Something that the two Indonesian women that the couple held against their will could not do for 5 years. Looking more into Mr. Scaring reveals a past that many would call victorious. He defended Gerald Monter, who was accused of manslaughter, and won. He also won an acquittal for Walter Grabinowitz, a St. John's student accused of sexual assault. However, these two cases also show Scaring's choice of who to defend. Monter, a real estate developer on Long Island, had been convicted of bribing a witness prior to his manslaughter arrest. Then, he was involved in a semi-scandalous land deal in Suffolk County involving Canon USA and a property called The Pumpkin Farm. Grabinowitz was accused along with two other St. John's students, of sexually assaulting a woman at the college. Prosecutor Alice Vachss, who was the chief prosecutor of sex crimes in Queens at the time, said that the DA's office had botched the case. This seems pretty obvious as one of the six accused (it appears that there were several trials for different individuals) plead guilty to lesser charges and then agreed to testify against the others. I don't know if I would want to be in the same category as these two people, as the Sabhnani couple have placed themselves in by hiring Scaring. Besides, who quotes themselves on their own website? Peace.

Photos - Top: Varsha Mahender Sabhnani (www.nypost.com), Middle: Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani (www.nypost.com), Bottom: Stephen P. Scaring (www.stephenpscaring.com)