PHILADELPHIA – A paroled killer targeted mentally disabled adults in a scheme to steal their Social Security benefits, confining them like "zoo animals," forcing some into prostitution and causing the deaths of two victims through abuse and neglect, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Linda Weston, 52, of Philadelphia, was indicted on charges including hate crimes, kidnapping, murder in aid of racketeering and forced human labor. It's the first time the federal hate crimes statute has been used to protect the disabled, authorities said.

"Shocking does not begin to describe the criminal allegations in this case, where victims were tied up and confined like zoo animals and treated like property akin to slaves," U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger said.