The owner of a Paynesville dairy farm has been hit with criminal wage theft and racketeering charges, months after the business agreed to pay $250,000 in back wages to its employees.

He’s accused of depriving mostly undocumented migrants of their earned wages and subjecting them to abuse and threats of physical violence and death

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced on Tuesday he charged the owner of a sprawling central Minnesota dairy operation with four counts of felony wage theft and one count of felony racketeering.

A central Minnesota dairy farmer is facing felony wage theft and racketeering charges over allegations that he underpaid and threatened his immigrant workers and subjected them to unsanitary living conditions.