Venkatesh Sattaru, 38, walked into a federal courtroom in St. Louis and accepted a 50-month prison sentence for turning his own cousin into a slave. The Indian-origin US Army veteran, who lived in St. Louis, had brought his young relative to the United States in December 2022. Court records reveal a grim two-year ordeal where Sattaru confiscated the man’s immigration papers and forced him to work as bonded labor for Sattaru’s company, Absolute Barbeque Indian Wish Grill, which had already closed by 2018.
The abuse was systematic and brutal. When the victim failed to perform chores or errands, Sattaru punished him with physical violence, sleep deprivation, and restricted access to basic necessities like food and bathrooms. He did not act alone. Court documents state that Sattaru’s brother-in-law, Nikhil Penmasta, 30, and another accomplice, Sravan Penumetcha, 26, participated in the beatings using dangerous weapons. Penumetcha pleaded guilty in March 2024 and received 30 months in prison in June. Penmasta pleaded guilty in April 2024 and is serving 37 months, consecutive to a separate three-year state sentence.
While enslaving his cousin, Sattaru simultaneously drained federal coffers. He exaggerated his VA disability status to inflate payments under the Caregiver Support Program (PCAF). He fraudulently caused his caregiver to receive an extra $83,776 from the Department of Veteran Affairs. Sattaru pleaded guilty in April to one count of theft of government funds and one count of confiscating immigration paperwork to obtain labor through serious harm.
Sattaru’s history in the US began in 2008 when he worked at a mall kiosk. He enlisted in the Army in 2012 after becoming a citizen and was honorably discharged in 2014 with lifelong debilitating injuries. Former friend Karthik Bollam told FirstAlert4 in 2023 that Sattaru had strong political ties to the YSR Congress Party in India and used that influence to recruit people for his US ventures.
Sattaru’s 50-month federal sentence will run concurrently with a five-year state sentence for second-degree domestic assault in St. Charles County. He has paid a $74,634 forfeiture to the Department of Homeland Security and the $83,776 restitution to the VA. The victim, whose name has been withheld for safety, is now free from Sattaru’s control, but the trauma of two years of confinement and violence remains.