Six former high-ranking members of the Kansas City-based cult United Nation of Islam (UNOI) have been sentenced for their roles in a forced labor conspiracy that victimized multiple children.
UNOI, founded by the now-deceased Royall Jenkins—who falsely claimed to be Allah—operated under the guise of religion while running a network of businesses including restaurants, bakeries, gas stations, and factories. From 2000 to 2012, UNOI leaders used manipulation, abuse, and coercion to force more than a dozen minors—some as young as eight—into grueling, unpaid labor across Kansas City and other cities including New York, Newark, Cincinnati, and Atlanta.
On Thursday, Kaaba Majeed, 51, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Five co-defendants also received prison or probation sentences: James Staton (5 years), Randolph Hadley (5 years), Daniel Jenkins (4 years), Dana Peach (4 years), and Yunus Rassoul (5 years probation). All were convicted in 2024 after a 26-day trial. Majeed was convicted on five additional counts of forced labor. Two others who pleaded guilty will be sentenced in September.
“These defendants were supposed to care for children,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Kriegshauser of Kansas. “Instead, they exploited and abused them for profit.”
Court documents and trial evidence revealed that UNOI lured children from their families with false promises of education and training. Once isolated, children were subjected to harsh punishments, restricted communication, and made to work up to 16 hours daily in unsanitary conditions. The cult leaders lived comfortably while victims endured deprivation and trauma.
One of the defendants, Dana Peach, was also one of Jenkins’s wives. All defendants enforced strict cult rules and worked to maintain complete control over the victims, who were forced into childcare, housework, and labor in UNOI businesses.
The FBI Kansas City Field Office investigated the case alongside the Department of Labor and the New York State Department of Labor.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said the case shows the Justice Department’s commitment to fighting child labor trafficking: “These sentences reflect our relentless pursuit of perpetrators and our determination to seek justice for survivors.”
Anyone with information about human trafficking can contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or visit www.humantraffickinghotline.org.
