Woman in ‘basement of horrors’ case sentenced to life in prison

A 55-year-old woman who kept mentally disabled adults and children captive in the basement of homes in Philadelphia, Texas and Florida for disability checks was sentenced to life in prison, Associated Press reports. 

Linda Weston had been in custody since October 2011, when a landlord found four bedraggled adults locked in a squalid boiler room of a home in northeast Philadelphia. One man that was found had been chained to a boiler.

Authorities say over the course of 10-years, between 2001 and 2011, Weston, her daughter and three others confined the victims "like zoo animals." The victims, who eventually totaled six disabled adults and four children, were held in dark spaces such as basements, attics and closets.

They were sedated with drugs in their food and drinks, sometimes deprived of food and medical care and were forced to use buckets for bathrooms, authorities said. 

Prosecutors alleged that if the victims attempted to escape, stole food, or protested their treatment, their capturers would "punish them by slapping, punching, kicking, stabbing, burning or hit them with closed hands, belts, sticks, bats and hammers or other objects, including the butt of a pistol."

According to authorities, when the family lived in Texas and Florida, Weston forced two of the female victims into prostitution to earn more money for the family.

Weston, who pleaded guilty in September to all 196 counts against her, faced charges of kidnapping, racketeering conspiracy and murder in aid of racketeering, hate crimes, sex trafficking and fraud. 

In exchange for pleading guilty to all counts, federal prosecutors agreed to recommend she serve a life sentence.  

Officials have accused Weston of using "cunning, trickery, force and coercion" to get mentally disabled people to designate her as their caretaker. As a result, she illegally collected approximately $212,000 in Social Security payments. 

Weston apologized for her actions during the hearing by saying, "I believe in God and God knows what happened." 

U.S. District Judge Cynthia Rufe responded with, "there are a lot of people in this courtroom who know what happened too." 

Prior to Thursday's sentencing, several of the victims had described their horrific experience.

However, two woman that were held captive later died. 

Two other individuals responsible for holding the victims captive have pleaded guilty and two other are awaiting trial. 

Contact Caitlin Lilly at clilly@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @caitiesmith