White South Carolina restaurant manager Bobby Paul Edwards who physically abused a black man and forced him to work more than 100 hours a week without pay for years has pleaded guilty in federal court. Edwards used violence and threats toward John Christopher Smith who has intellectual disabilities and worked at eatery J&J Cafeteria in Conway, South Carolina. 

According to The New York Times, Edwards pleaded guilty to one count of forced labor. He admitted that from 2009 to 2014 he beat Smith with a belt, hit him with pots and pans, punched him and burned him with hot tongs on his bare neck. Smith is around 40 years old and had worked at the eatery since he was 12, the Justice Department revealed. Edwards also hurled racial slurs at Smith, who feared to lose his job, the Times reported. 

In an interview with local ABC 15 News last year, Smith said he tried to escape the abuse and get out of the restaurant for years but had nowhere to go. 

"I wanted to get out of there a long time ago," he said. "But I didn't have nobody I could go to." He added, "I couldn't go anywhere. I couldn't see none of my family so that was that. That's the main basic thing I wanted to see was my mom come see me. I couldn't see my mom…and I couldn't talk to nobody."

In 2014, a frequent customer called the authorities when they noticed scars on Smith's body, CNN reported. Authorities then removed Smith from the restaurant. 

Abdullah Mustafa, the president of the local chapter of the NAACP, called Smith's disturbing experience "enslavement."

"We are talking about enslavement here," he said, according to CNN. 

Edwards could face up to 20 years in prison when sentenced, the Times reported. He also faces a possible fine of up to $250,000 and mandatory restitution to Smith. His sentencing date has yet to be scheduled.

John M. Gore, acting assistant attorney general, said the following in a statement released by the Justice Department:

"Human trafficking through forced labor can happen on farms, in homes, and as today’s case shows — in public places, such as restaurants. Edwards abused an African-American man with intellectual disabilities by coercing him to work long hours in a restaurant without pay.”

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