A French court has sentenced 16 Bulgarian Roma to up to 8 years in prison and a final ban on access to French territory. They were found guilty of human trafficking, of forcing their compatriots to beg and of money laundering, BTA reported, citing AFP. Another defendant was sentenced to one year in prison. 

According to the investigation, members of five Roma families lured their victims with promises to work in France and share the profits from begging. Upon arrival in the French city of Toulouse, people were deprived of their ID documents and forced to beg without receiving a share of the money. They were kept malnourished, beaten and lived in very poor conditions.