Three plead guilty to 'modern-day slavery' at York-area nail salons

[ERIKandCHINH 0]

http://www.inyork.com/ci_13496985?source=rss_viewed#

http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/medi...gindictment.pdf

A Vietnamese woman identified as A.V. escaped from a New Cumberland house in June 2008, where she had been held for nearly four years, according to federal charging documents.

She carried her personal belongings wrapped in a sheet, documents state.

A client A.V. had met at a West Manchester Township nail salon helped her escape, after she had told the client that a woman named Lynda Dieu Phan was forcing her and another Vietnamese national, identified as T.V., to work without pay.

The two women stayed in Lynda Dieu Phan's home in the 500 block of Sandpiper Lane in Fairview Township and worked every day in her nail salons under the threat of being turned over to immigration officials as illegal aliens, documents state.

On Tuesday, Lynda Dieu Phan, 39; her brother Justin Phan, 36; and her boyfriend, Duc Cao Nguyen, 41, pleaded guilty to federal charges.

The three face maximum sentences of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a maximum of three years supervised release.

In addition, the three have agreed to pay a total of $300,000 to the two women in back-pay, the majority of the money coming from seizures of Lynda Dieu Phan and Nguyen's home, Nguyen's 2008 Toyota Highlander and money found in several bank accounts, documents state.

[lindal24 1]

wow...harsh!

[NQT1976 1]

that really sad story, damn those communist they make the country poor. every one just want to eascape from the country.

OMG, vietnam have no future

[ScottThuy 140]

that really sad story, damn those communist they make the country poor. every one just want to eascape from the country.

OMG, vietnam have no future

VN did not do it. It was mrs Phan.

VN has a bright future because they are spending so much money to educate the children and improve technology. When china forcloses on the us VN will be in better shape finacially than the us will.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

that really sad story, damn those communist they make the country poor. every one just want to eascape from the country.

OMG, vietnam have no future

VN did not do it. It was mrs Phan.

VN has a bright future because they are spending so much money to educate the children and improve technology. When china forcloses on the us VN will be in better shape finacially than the us will.

The two women working in the nail salons are not free of guilt, either. They came to the US on temporary work visas, and got conditional residency through sham marriages with Lynda Phan's boyfriend and brother. The feud between them apparently began when "A.V." thought she'd worked off the repayment of her airfare and immigration fees, and confronted Phan, who then told "A.V." that she still owed her for room and board. "A.V." didn't decide to take any action until she realized that Phan never filed the papers to remove conditions on her green card.

"A.V." said the only money she received was her tips. In a nail salon, that would be about 80% of the average worker's total income.

NQT1976 has a point. For a country with such a bright future, people seem to fight awfully hard to avoid going back.

[cavoi xanh1 0]

I grew in York- in West Manchester township in particular

[NQT1976 1]

that really sad story, damn those communist they make the country poor. every one just want to eascape from the country.

OMG, vietnam have no future

VN did not do it. It was mrs Phan.

VN has a bright future because they are spending so much money to educate the children and improve technology. When china forcloses on the us VN will be in better shape finacially than the us will.

OMG, who teach you this info ?

every child go to school in VN have to pay fee even 1st grade, is this spend too much money for education ?

all technology you see now are foreign invest, the VC just do sheet.

you never know what is dictatorship. No country have a future with dictatorship.

sound like a communist to me.

[Anh map 2,098]

A sad story, but not unique to any one country. Enough blame to go around for everyone.

[cavoi xanh1 0]

that really sad story, damn those communist they make the country poor. every one just want to eascape from the country.

OMG, vietnam have no future

VN did not do it. It was mrs Phan.

VN has a bright future because they are spending so much money to educate the children and improve technology. When china forcloses on the us VN will be in better shape finacially than the us will.

OMG, who teach you this info ?

every child go to school in VN have to pay fee even 1st grade, is this spend too much money for education ?

all technology you see now are foreign invest, the VC just do sheet.

you never know what is dictatorship. No country have a future with dictatorship.

sound like a communist to me.

I've thought this much of VN for most of my 25 years - not knowing anything of the country except experiences from elders and history books.

My perspective has changed in the last two years after having the opportunity to travel back 5 times. Without a doubt, the disparity between rich and poor, ethics, sanitation, and the way 'business' is done is appalling, but it is not VN I imagined and feared all these years. We do engineering work extensively in Vietnam and the Vietnamese government has earnestly sent research teams and leaders to learn from the U.S. in the fields of water treatment, environmetnal sustainabilty, landfilling, recycling, and waste water treatment. I grew up thinking that the VN was lost and a hopeless country and maybe it still is for a disproportionate of the population, but is also not the same VN that my parents risked everything to escape.

[luckytxn 2,264]

I have to agree that Vietnam is in no way going to be superior at least in our lifetime. While I was there the kids in my wifes family did go to school and had to pay for it but it was not even half a day where she was. I asked why this is so and was told that the school is too small and they had to stagger the kids in throughout the day so some went in morning was back in by 11 and the next shift went to school. Their subjects were very basic at that. I remember patting my Niece in laws head and saying I guess I will be looking for a American husband for you in 10 years.

I also asked why we slowed down every time we came upon a bridge and was told that the bridge was very old and never been inspected and worked on and had to be careful in case it collapsed. This was as we drove into and out of Saigon. The infrastructure of the whole country is basically in tatters. Of course we did go into Saigon and saw the places that were fixed nicely but it seemed it was for the tourists and when we went to Vung Tau it was nice but for same reason. When I was in Vung Tau I saw a Ferrari countash there that was awesome vehicle and was stunned to see among the less than stellar transportation and asked whos it was? I was told that it was the Head of the Communists in that whole region. It is strange I guess but not too much so that among such poverty and basic living that the high official makes enough to afford such luxury. Now we all know why this is so. I wondered if he had to pay that 100% Value added tax that is placed on any luxury imported by mere mortals there.

The places and resorts there are from foreign investments but of course you must have papers to get the ok and all and even have a native partner usually that is usually an official or family member of one that has to place no money of their own in the scheme but needed to get the ok's to do business. It can go on and on and Vietnam is moving into the present despite all this.

Maybe Scott you need to get away from the tourist areas more and look around more and see why all there I met would say, "There is no hope for us"

Edited October 8, 2009 by luckytxn

[ScottThuy 140]

I have been from the very far north of VN on Mt Fansipan all the way to Vung Tau in the south... and all in between.. They have seen alot of change in the past 10 years... DSL is in places that one would never expect. I have been working with Lucent Alcatel in Ha Noi and the infrastructure has been undergoing great improvement. True that one sees more luxury in the big cities or the tourist areas, but it has to start somewhere...

The amount that one pays for a child to go to school there for the year and that includes meals.. is far less than we pay here...

People in the US say "there is no hope for us" every day also...

[cavoi xanh1 0]

Sorry OP for hi jacking the thread

one more thing to add- while the US has its own set of problems. There is not another county on earth that say it is better off. It truly is a land of opportunity- not to say that there is prejudice, racism, poverty and etc- but there is hope and opportunity. In this country, there is federal and stated subsidized education (not free ) and more university and opportunities to obtain advanced education than any other country on earth. The result is that an average a person can be upwardly mobile in society and that hard work, persistence, and talent are worth a damn.

[vietazn 1]

Sorry OP for hi jacking the thread

one more thing to add- while the US has its own set of problems. There is not another county on earth that say it is better off. It truly is a land of opportunity- not to say that there is prejudice, racism, poverty and etc- but there is hope and opportunity. In this country, there is federal and stated subsidized education (not free ) and more university and opportunities to obtain advanced education than any other country on earth. The result is that an average a person can be upwardly mobile in society and that hard work, persistence, and talent are worth a damn.

Replace the word "opportunity" with "debt". Debt for everything, including to obtain education. For some reason this country believes everyone deserves a house and an education. Now both have dropped in value. In Vietnam, people save or sell assets to pay for education, not borrow like in the US. Eventually, the US has to pay the piper. We cannot expect to keep increasing our living standards and take on more debt, without destroying the dollar. Gold keeps increasing in price because the dollar keeps dropping in value. And we are considering universal healthcare and other entitlements without a plan to pay for it. Hyperinflation is coming. Once that kicks in, for most people the upward mobility will much more difficult.

[Dau Que 6]

Only VNese workers (here in the US) will work 12-hour shifts 7 days a week (in a factory environment). They do have a choice to take time off, but they choose to work like so. Sometimes, they put money above anything else in their lives, including their health.

I live my life like the way Suze Orman always says at the end of her shows "People first, then money, then things."

In regards to those who keep dissing the VC, what have you DONE personally to help the unfortunate VNese people that are suffering daily with that communist regime? Probably nothing. You lost the war in 1975. Accept that fact and move on with your life.

[cavoi xanh1 0]

*activate flame shield*

we should probably close this thread before it gets WAY off topic