Concerning IT Consulting Company employment contract Please Help!?

I was approached by an IT Consulting firm
I took my time explaining about my education, but they were only concerned about whether I was open to relocation anywhere in the US
The recruiter told me that I will have to go through a 6-8 weeks of training, and will go on to the market.
She said "we guaranty that you will be place into a project no later than 1 month after the training."

7 weeks of training was over, and 7~8 weeks have passed after the training. I am still in this company guesthouse with 5 other room mates.(2 bedroom apartment)

The company has made me sign a contract
which states that I am to work 15 month of project time, or I will be responsible for a certain amount of money to the company.

They are not paying me anything as of now.
I want to get out.. but my concern is with the employment contract.
Can a employee not get payed? Feels like a slavery sometimes.

I want to know if there is a way out..
or want to know if this kind of treatment is legal..

The part where the recruiter said "we guaranty you will get in the project within a month" is not in paper...
So even if I was to use it in my defence, wouldn't really work.

I'm thinking about contacting the department of labor too..
they company is located in CA, but in the contract it states that they will go through New Jersey law if anything comes up.

Would I have to contact the New Jersey department of labor?

I really want to find someone who can help me..

You have a strong case. Even if you signed a contract saying that you wouldn't be paid, it would be invalid. A contract that commits a party to an illegal act is unenforceable. Working for free is illegal. It sounds like a scam.

As for the choice-of-law clause, you can sue in California. If there were a valid contract, all that clause would mean is that California courts would be obliged to apply New Jersey law (which wouldn't be much different anyway, since non-commercial contract rules fall almost entirely under the same common-law system). It doesn't sound like there's actually a valid contract here, though. So, the California court will likely apply NJ law just to find the contract invalid, and then decide everything else (like your compensation and any criminal charges) under CA law.

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JD