Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has charged a Paynesville Dairy Farm owner with racketeering and wage theft.

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.

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.

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

Keith Lawrence Schaefer, 57, of Richmond, owner of Evergreen Acres Dairy LLC, faces racketeering and wage theft charges, according to Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office.

PAYNESVILLE, Minn. – The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office is charging the owner of Evergreen Acres Dairy in Paynesville with felony racketeering and wage theft.