Frankfort Brothers Plead Guilty to Wage and Hour Offenses, and one also Plead to Receiving Child Pornography

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Two Frankfort brothers appeared in federal court on Thursday, before U.S. District Court Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove, and admitted to committing wage and hour offenses. One brother also admitted to knowingly receiving child pornography.        

Fei Guo Tang, 49, pleaded guilty to knowingly receiving visual depictions of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct and knowingly failing to pay workers minimum wages and time-and-a-half wages for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week.

According to his plea agreement, a forensic examination of Fei Ghou Tang’s telephone revealed five videos containing depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.  Additionally, Fei Guo Tang failed to pay a total of $60,690.36 in required overtime and minimum wages to five of his employees.

Fei Zhou Tang, 51, pleaded guilty to knowingly making false statements on an Employer’s Quarterly Unemployment Wage and Tax Report and knowingly failing to pay workers time-and-a-half wages for hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week.

Fei Zhou Tang admitted that he knowingly made the false statements on the Employer’s Quarterly Wage and Tax Report by omitting the names of undocumented workers, on multiple quarterly unemployment forms, and failing to pay overtime wages to workers who worked more than forty hours per week. According to his plea agreement, Fei Zhou Tang failed to pay a total of $229,207.26 in required overtime and minimum wages to six employees.                     

Fei Guo Tang was initially indicted in March 2019.  He pleaded guilty to charges contained in a Second Superseding indictment, which was returned in May 2019.  His brother Fei Zhou Tang was initially indicted in July 2018.  He pleaded guilty to charges contained in a Second Superseding indictment, which was returned in June 2019.

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Jason Crosby, U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service, Supervisory Special Agent, Criminal Division Chief; Matthew Utley, Assistant District Director, Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division; Rafiq Ahmad Special Agent in Charge, DOL Office of Inspector General; Rod Owens, Special Agent in Charge, Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General; and Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear jointly announced the guilty pleas.

The investigation was conducted by the Department of State, Department of Labor, Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, and the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General.  The United States was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hydee Hawkins, David Marye, and Dmitriy Slavin.

Fei Guo Tang is scheduled to be sentenced on February 26, 2020 at 10 a.m. He faces not less than five years and not more than 20 years for receiving child pornography. Fei Zhou Tang is also scheduled to be sentenced on February 26, 2020 at 11 a.m. He faces up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 for making false statements. In addition, both brothers will be required to pay restitution, a money judgment in lieu of forfeiture, and a civil fine for failing to pay required wages.  However, any sentence will be imposed by the Court, after its consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal sentencing statutes. 

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