News : Peony case: Long to plead guilty; Nov. 10 court date set for Duong

Court documents recently filed in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids indicate that Phung Ca (Polly) Long has agreed to plead guilty to two federal charges in the case involving her and her husband and the Peony Family Restaurants in Vinton and Toledo.
"There is a plea agreement in this matter," wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Reinert, who is prosecuting the case, in a document filed with U.S. Magistrate Judge Jon. S. Scoles.
A Rule 11 hearing has been set for 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 19. (Rule 11 is the law governing the information shared with defendants who plead guilty.)
During this hearing, according to those documents, Long will plead guilty to harboring illegal aliens for commercial gain and making false statements in relation to claims submitted to the Iowa Medicaid Program. In doing so, said Reinert, Long will admit to the court that:
"Between about 2000 and November 2008, two or more persons reached an agreement or understanding to harbor illegal aliens; the defendant voluntarily joined in the agreement; at the time the defendant knew the purpose of the agreement or understanding, that is to harbor illegal aliens," wrote Reinert.
Reinert said Thursday in an interview, with Vinton Today, that Long's husband, Chan Gia Duong, has a court date set for Nov. 10. While Duong has not yet reached a similar plea agreement, it is possible that such a deal could be reached during this hearing.
Court documents indicate that Duong told investigators that the Peony opened in 1996, and that for several years, the restaurant owners relied on family members and friends to staff the couple's businesses in Vinton and Toledo. But when that was no longer possible, the couple used employees from a Chicago employment service. Duong admitted to investigators that many of those employees were undocumented workers.