DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- A federal grand jury has returned a ten-count indictment against a man and a woman for their alleged roles in a forced labor and money laundering operation.
David Taylor, 53, was arrested in North Carolina and Michelle Brannon, 56, was arrested in Florida, according to the Department of Justice.
"Combating human trafficking is a top priority for the Department of Justice," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
"We are committed to relentlessly pursuing and ending this scourge and obtaining justice for the victims."
ABC11 News spoke with a neighbor in Durham who wanted to remain anonymous. One neighbor said she always had an uneasy feeling seeing people on in and out of the property.
Her gut said something was off. The neighbor also said at various times they were asked to visit the church, and one encounter in particular made her feel weirded out. During that meeting, she said Taylor's supposed religious vision was directed at her family.
"I actually was just a little scared about him telling us about our little brother to be careful because something might happen to him because he supposedly had a vision or something, because he was a pastor," she says. "But I always thought in my head that was weird."
She says while she always had an uneasy feeling, she never thought someone who's supposed to be a pastor could do something like he's accused of.
"I knew something was off because all those black trash bags were brought in and out," she says. "I guess all my suspicions were there."
The indictment alleges that Taylor and Brannon are the leaders of the Kingdom of God Global Church (KOGGC), formerly known as Joshua Media Ministries International (JMMI).
Their organization ran a call center that solicited donations for KOGGC/JMMI every day. Taylor established his first call center in Michigan and then operated call centers in other locations, including Florida, Texas, and Missouri.
Taylor and Brannon, according to the indictment, compelled their victims to work at their call centers. Taylor and Brannon controlled every aspect of their daily lives.
In addition, according to the indictment, Taylor and Brannon required victims to work in the call centers long hours without pay or perform other services for Taylor.
He set unattainable daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly monetary donation goals for victims working in the call centers and required victims to follow the orders he created without question.
KOGGC/JMMI received millions of dollars in donations each year through its call centers.
Taylor and Brannon used much of the money to purchase luxury properties, luxury vehicles, and sporting equipment such as a boat, jet skis, and ATVs, the indictment shows.
In total, Taylor received approximately $50 million in donations since 2014.
Taylor will appear before a judge today in Durham. Brannon will appear in a Florida court.
If convicted, the alleged crimes could result in a prison sentence of up to 60 years.
Anyone who has information about human trafficking should report that information to the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at 1-888-373-7888, which operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.