Georgia · Cartersville, Bartow County · Crime & Courts

Cartersville, GA Forced Labor Indictment: Zhu Chen, Jiayi Chen and Jianjun Lu Charged in Federal Case

A federal grand jury charged three men with forced labor and conspiracy at a Cartersville flooring plant. All three are charged, not convicted, and nothing in the indictment has been proven.

By Kate Thompson Published Aug. 13, 2026, 2:40 a.m. ET 12 min read Charged, not convicted

What does the indictment allege?

A federal grand jury has indicted three men on charges of forced labor and conspiracy to commit forced labor connected to a flooring manufacturing plant in Cartersville, according to WSB-TV and FOX 5 Atlanta.

WSB-TV reported that two Cartersville men and a Chinese national were indicted Tuesday in federal court. Both reports published Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026.

The indictment alleges that Chinese nationals were recruited on false promises, brought into the United States on B-1 and L-1 visas, and then made to work 12-hour shifts, six days a week in unsafe conditions for less pay than promised.

An indictment is an accusation, not a finding. FOX 5 Atlanta put the legal posture in its own words: “The indictment contains allegations, and the government must prove the defendants guilty beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.”

Who is charged?

Three men are named. Both stations carry the same three names and the same three ages.

No one else is accused of anything. No employee, relative or business associate is named as a participant.

What are the charges?

All three men are charged with forced labor and conspiracy to commit forced labor, both stations reported.

Zhu Chen alone also faces a count of alien harboring. WSB-TV reported it plainly: “Zhu Chen was also charged with alien harboring.”

In federal practice, a conspiracy count charges an agreement to commit an offense and the substantive count charges the offense itself. A defendant can be convicted of one and acquitted of the other. Charging both is ordinary and says nothing about the strength of either.

Neither station published the code sections named in the indictment, and no count numbers have been made public.

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How were the workers allegedly recruited?

WSB-TV reported, citing the U.S. Justice Department: “the defendants lured Chinese nationals to work at Wellmade Industries ‘through false pretenses’ on B-1 and L-1 visas.”

FOX 5 Atlanta reported that investigators said Zhu Chen worked with Jiayi Chen and Jianjun Lu to recruit Chinese nationals using false promises, and that “The victims were brought to the U.S. on B-1 and L-1 visas to work at the factory in Cartersville.”

A B-1 or an L-1 is a lawful visa category. B-1 covers temporary business visitors; L-1 covers intracompany transferees. The allegation is about how those categories were allegedly used, and it is aimed at the three charged men — not at the people who traveled on them.

What conditions does the indictment describe?

All of this is alleged. None of it has been proven.

WSB-TV reported: “Once the workers arrived, they were forced to work 12-hour shifts, six days a week, in unsafe conditions and paid less than promised.” It also reported that “The workers were forced to work long hours and were kept in overcrowded and dirty conditions, according to the DOJ.”

FOX 5 Atlanta reported that “Once the victims arrived, the defendants forced them to work 12-hour shifts, six days a week in unsafe conditions, officials said,” and that authorities said the men paid the workers less than promised. In its own summary, FOX 5 Atlanta described victims “brought on false promises, forced into 12-hour factory shifts and kept in dirty housing.”

What threats are alleged?

WSB-TV reported: “Federal officials say the defendants allegedly threatened foreign workers here on visas with ‘physical violence, deportation, and crippling debt’ if they stopped working at the factory.”

FOX 5 Atlanta reported the same three categories — physical violence, deportation and crippling debt — attributing them to authorities.

What is alien harboring, and why is only one man charged with it?

The count is charged against Zhu Chen alone. Neither of the other two men faces it.

FOX 5 Atlanta reported the stated basis: the charge is “for housing workers without legal status in properties owned by the business.”

The federal harboring provision, 8 U.S.C. § 1324, reaches a person who — knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that someone has come to, entered or remains in the United States unlawfully — conceals, harbors or shields that person from detection in any place, including any building. Where the offense is done for commercial advantage or private financial gain, the statute sets a higher penalty ceiling.

That is what the law says. No finding has been made about any individual worker's status, which is a determination for a court and an immigration process.

What does federal forced labor law actually require?

The federal forced labor statute is 18 U.S.C. § 1589, and it is worth reading because it does not require chains or locked doors.

It reaches a person who knowingly obtains the labor of another by force or threats of force, by physical restraint or threats of restraint, by serious harm or threats of serious harm, by the abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process, or by a scheme intended to make a person believe they or someone else would suffer serious harm if the work stopped.

Two definitions do most of the work. Serious harm includes harm that is not physical — psychological, financial or reputational — where it is serious enough to compel a reasonable person in the same circumstances to keep working to avoid it. Abuse of legal process means using or threatening a law or legal process for a purpose it was not designed for, in order to pressure someone.

That framework is why the alleged threats of deportation and crippling debt matter legally alongside the alleged threat of violence.

The chapter's general provisions sit at 18 U.S.C. § 1594, which provides that a person who conspires to violate the forced labor section is punished in the same manner as a completed violation, and which provides for forfeiture, with forfeited assets directed toward victim restitution.

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What does the 20-year maximum mean?

Both stations report the same figure. WSB-TV: “If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.” FOX 5 Atlanta: “Zhu Chen, Jiayi Chen and Jianjun Lu face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.”

A statutory maximum is a ceiling, not a forecast. It is the most a court could impose on a count after a conviction — not a sentence anyone has received, not an average and not a likely outcome.

Federal sentences are set by a judge after a conviction, guided by the advisory sentencing guidelines and the statutory sentencing factors, and they routinely land far below the ceiling printed in a press release.

Note the condition both stories include: if convicted. No one in this case has been convicted.

Is Wellmade Industries charged?

No. Three individuals are charged. No company has been indicted, and no corporate charge, plea or penalty has been reported.

Both stations connect Zhu Chen to the company as its owner, and both place the alleged conduct at a flooring manufacturing plant in Cartersville. That is the extent of what has been established about the business.

No statement from the company, from any defendant or from any defense lawyer has been reported.

Who is prosecuting the case?

FOX 5 Atlanta named the trial team: Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leanne Marek and Jennifer Keen, along with trial attorney Elizabeth Hutson. It gave its source as the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia.

WSB-TV quoted U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg: “My office will ensure that predators who traffic at-risk laborers and violate our immigration laws to enrich themselves are investigated, apprehended, and prosecuted.”

That is a prosecutor's statement about his office's mission. It is not a finding about what these three men did.

The Northern District of Georgia is one of three federal judicial districts in the state, with courthouses in Atlanta, Gainesville, Newnan and Rome. Which courthouse holds this case has not been reported.

What happens next in a federal case?

This is the ordinary path a federal criminal case follows. It is not a prediction about this one.

This case sits at the very beginning of that path. No arraignment, plea, detention ruling or trial date has been reported.

Was there an earlier raid at the plant?

WSB-TV reported that this indictment follows earlier action: “As Channel 2 Action News reported, the company was raided and arrests were made in connection with the case in July 2025.”

Nothing published establishes that those 2025 arrests involved these three defendants, or that the earlier matter and this indictment are the same case.

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What we don't know yet

Where a worker being exploited can get help

General information, not advice about anyone in this case.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline operates 24 hours a day and is confidential: 1-888-373-7888, TTY 711, or text 233733. It handles labor trafficking as well as sex trafficking, takes calls in many languages, and does not require a caller to give a name.

Federal law gives people identified as victims in a federal criminal case specific rights, including reasonable and timely notice of public court proceedings, the right not to be excluded from them, the right to be reasonably heard at proceedings involving release, plea or sentencing, and the right to full and timely restitution as provided by law.

Restitution in a trafficking case is mandatory rather than discretionary, and the amount is set to include at least the greater of the value of the victim's services to the defendant or the value of that labor under federal minimum wage and overtime guarantees.

Unpaid wages are a separate track from a criminal case: minimum wage and overtime complaints go to the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, independent of any prosecution. Immigration questions depend on individual facts and need advice from an immigration lawyer or an accredited nonprofit representative.

Frequently asked questions

Who was indicted in the Cartersville forced labor case?
Three men: Zhu Chen, 60, Jiayi Chen, 31, and Jianjun Lu, 55. Both WSB-TV and FOX 5 Atlanta describe Zhu Chen as the owner of Wellmade Industries. WSB-TV identified Jiayi Chen as his nephew and Jianjun Lu as a Chinese national.

What are the charges?
Forced labor and conspiracy to commit forced labor, against all three men. Zhu Chen is also charged with alien harboring. Neither of the other two men faces the harboring count.

Has anyone been convicted?
No. This is an indictment, which is an accusation voted by a grand jury on a finding of probable cause. FOX 5 Atlanta reported that the indictment contains allegations and that the government must prove the defendants guilty beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. All three men are presumed innocent.

What is the difference between an indictment and a conviction?
A grand jury hears the government's evidence in secret, without the defense present and without a judge presiding, and decides only whether there is probable cause to believe an offense was committed. A conviction comes from a trial jury or a guilty plea and requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The gap between those two standards is enormous.

What does the indictment say happened to the workers?
Prosecutors allege the three recruited Chinese nationals on false promises and brought them to the United States on B-1 and L-1 visas to work at the Cartersville factory. Once the workers arrived, both stations reported, they were forced to work 12-hour shifts, six days a week, in unsafe conditions and were paid less than promised, and they were kept in overcrowded, dirty housing. None of it has been proven.

What threats are alleged?
WSB-TV reported that federal officials say the defendants threatened the workers with physical violence, deportation and crippling debt if they stopped working at the factory. FOX 5 Atlanta reported the same three threats, attributing them to authorities.

How many workers are involved?
That has not been released. FOX 5 Atlanta reported that federal officials have not released the exact number of victims involved in the operation, or specified when the alleged labor trafficking first began.

What is the alien harboring charge, and why is only one man charged with it?
It is charged against Zhu Chen alone. FOX 5 Atlanta reported the stated basis: housing workers without legal status in properties owned by the business. The federal harboring provision, 8 U.S.C. section 1324, reaches a person who conceals, harbors or shields someone from detection knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that the person is in the United States unlawfully. No finding has been made about any individual worker's status.

Does forced labor require physical restraint?
No. Under 18 U.S.C. section 1589, the offense reaches labor obtained by force or threats of force, by serious harm or threats of serious harm, by abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process, or by a scheme intended to make a person believe they would suffer serious harm if the work stopped. Serious harm is defined to include nonphysical harm, such as financial or psychological harm, serious enough to compel a reasonable person to keep working.

What does the 20-year maximum actually mean?
It is a statutory ceiling, not a forecast and not a sentence. Both stations reported that the three face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Federal sentences are imposed by a judge after a conviction, guided by the advisory guidelines and the statutory sentencing factors, and they commonly land well below the maximum.

Is Wellmade Industries charged with a crime?
No. Three individuals are charged and no company has been indicted. Both stations connect Zhu Chen to the company as its owner and place the alleged conduct at a flooring manufacturing plant in Cartersville.

Who is prosecuting the case?
FOX 5 Atlanta reported that Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leanne Marek and Jennifer Keen, along with trial attorney Elizabeth Hutson, are prosecuting the case, and gave its source as the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia. WSB-TV quoted U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg.

What happens next in a case like this?
The ordinary path is an initial appearance before a magistrate judge with a decision on release or detention, an arraignment where a plea is entered, discovery, pretrial motions, and then a plea, a dismissal or a trial. No arraignment, plea, detention ruling or trial date has been reported in this case.

Was there an earlier raid at the plant?
WSB-TV reported that the company was raided and arrests were made in connection with the case in July 2025, citing its own earlier coverage. Nothing published establishes that those arrests involved these three defendants.

Where is Cartersville?
Cartersville is the county seat of Bartow County, in northwest Georgia along the I-75 corridor between metro Atlanta and Chattanooga. No street address for the plant has been published.

Where can a worker who is being exploited get help?
The National Human Trafficking Hotline operates 24 hours a day and is confidential: 1-888-373-7888, TTY 711, or text 233733. It handles labor trafficking as well as sex trafficking, takes calls in many languages and does not require a caller to give a name. Unpaid wage complaints are a separate track through the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division.