And now for proof that some studio executives are beyond the realm of pond-scum comes news that former Sony studio lawyer and his wife were sentenced on Monday by a Los Angeles judge after admitting to mistreating their Filipino maid in a case of “modern-day slavery.”

US District Judge Dale Fischer ordered James Jackson, 53, a former vice-president of legal affairs at Sony Pictures to perform 200 hours of community service for admitting to a charge of alien harboring. The wife, Elizabeth Jackson, 54, was given a three-year jail term after pleading guilty to a charge of forced labor.

In passing sentence, Fischer said Elizabeth Jackson had treated the victim housekeeper, former schoolteacher Nena Ruiz, worse than her dog. Ruiz was forced to eat three-day-old food and to sleep on a dog basket after working 18 hours a day. From 2001 to 2002 Ruiz was paid only $300 in total! In a related civil lawsuit, Ruiz said Elizabeth Jackson regularly slapped her and pulled her hair.

The Jacksons also threatened to turn her over to immigration authorities if she left them, Ruiz said. Ruiz finally fled the Jackson home after she was hit in the mouth with a water bottle in 2002.

Elizabeth Jackson said in a letter read out in court on Monday that she took full responsibility for her actions.

“In my life I have always tried and strived to do the right thing…..I failed in this case.”

Ruiz won $825,000 in damages from her former employers at a 2004 civil trial in Los Angeles.