{"id":16850,"date":"2011-12-01T14:03:04","date_gmt":"2011-12-01T19:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=16850"},"modified":"2011-12-01T14:31:35","modified_gmt":"2011-12-01T19:31:35","slug":"founder-of-rockville-deaf-services-company-gets-nine-years-for-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/12\/01\/founder-of-rockville-deaf-services-company-gets-nine-years-for-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"Founder of Rockville deaf services company gets nine years for fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"

Founder of Rockville deaf services company gets nine years for fraud<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeh and his brother also ordered to pay $20M each<\/p>\n

by Kevin James Shay, Staff Writer<\/p>\n

Note: You can watch John Yeh’s video statement at court on YouTube.com here.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced John T.C. Yeh, former CEO of
\nRockville deaf services business Viable, to nine years in prison and ordered
\nhim to pay restitution of $20 million for his role in a multimillion-dollar
\ngovernment fraud case.<\/p>\n

His brother, former Viable vice president Joseph Yeh, received a prison
\nsentence of 55 months on Wednesday and also was ordered by Judge Joel A.
\nPisano to pay $20 million in restitution.<\/p>\n

In November 2009, John and Joseph Yeh were among 26 people nationwide to be
\nindicted for conspiring to defraud the Federal Communications Commission\u2019s
\nVideo Relay Service program, which helps deaf people communicate, by billing
\nthe government for millions of dollars in illegitimate calls. They pleaded
\nguilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud in October 2010.<\/p>\n

John Yeh is eligible for a credit of his prison term when he was held during
\nrevocation of bail, according to records from U.S. District Court in
\nTrenton, N.J.<\/p>\n

Paul F. Kemp, a partner with Ethridge, Quinn, Kemp, McAuliffe, Rowan &
\nHartinger of Rockville who represented John Yeh, noted that prosecutors were
\nasking for 15 years in prison and the maximum prison sentence the brothers
\nfaced was 20 years. He said Wednesday that he does not plan to appeal the
\nsentencing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish [the prison term] had been shorter, but the judge tried to be
\nfair,\u201d Kemp said. \u201cHe was trying to find a middle ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stanley J. Reed, a principal with Lerch, Early and Brewer in Bethesda who
\nrepresented Joseph Yeh, also said Wednesday he does not plan to appeal his
\nclient\u2019s sentence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe judge did a superb job of balancing all of the issues and factors,\u201d
\nReed said. \u201cJoseph and John are grateful for the amazing outpouring of
\nsupport they got from the community and the deaf community.\u201d<\/p>\n

About 100 people, many from the deaf community, traveled from across the
\ncountry and even from overseas to support the Yehs at the sentencing
\nhearing, Reed said.<\/p>\n

About eight character witnesses testified on the Yehs\u2019 behalf Wednesday,
\nwhich likely helped their case, Kemp said. \u201cWe were grateful to the
\nwitnesses who came forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Pisano recommended to the Bureau of Prisons that the Yehs be incarcerated
\ntogether in a federal prison camp in Cumberland, to be close to family
\nmembers and be provided with all services they were entitled to under
\nfederal disability laws.<\/p>\n

During the four-plus-hour hearing Wednesday, the Yehs were \u201cremorseful,
\nsomber, scared and very focused on listening to everything the judge
\nsaid,\u201d Kemp said. The Yehs are not eligible for parole but can receive five
\ndays of \u201cgood time\u201d per month credited against their prison terms, he said.<\/p>\n

Pisano also sentenced both Yehs to three years of supervised release.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a long journey to get here,\u201d Kemp said. \u201cWe are glad that we had a
\nthoughtful, considerate judge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two other former Viable executives, Anthony Mowl and Donald Tropp, are among
\nthose who have pleaded guilty in the case. They are scheduled to be
\nsentenced by Pisano on Dec. 14 in New Jersey, according to court documents.<\/p>\n

John Yeh has long been involved with organizations that advocate for the
\ndeaf community, such as the National Asian Deaf Congress and National Deaf
\nBusiness Institute. He was a trustee of Gallaudet University, a Washington,
\nD.C., institution that specializes in education for deaf people, for more
\nthan a decade. Deaf Life, a monthly national magazine founded in 1987,
\nhonored him as its Deaf Person of the Year in 2008.<\/p>\n

Yeh founded Viable in 2005 to develop and market real-time transcription
\ntext and video relay services to help deaf and other hard-of-hearing people
\ncommunicate. Within three years, Viable had shot up from a handful of
\nworkers to almost 200 full- and part-time employees, while annual revenues
\nexceeded $7 million.<\/p>\n

But prosecutors said in court documents that Viable charged the government
\nfor millions of dollars in illegitimate, or \u201crun,\u201d calls.<\/p>\n

A previous business that John Yeh formed, software engineering and
\nintegration company Integrated Microcomputer Systems, in Rockville with the
\nhelp of his brothers, reached $40 million in revenue in 1995 before he sold
\nit in 1996.<\/p>\n

kshay@gazette.net<\/p>\n

Source:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.gazette.net\/article\/20111130\/NEWS\/711309069\/1022\/founder-of-rockville-deaf-services-company-gets-nine-years-for-fraud&template=gazette<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Founder of Rockville deaf services company gets nine years for fraud Yeh and his brother also ordered to pay $20M each by Kevin James Shay, Staff Writer Note: You can watch John Yeh’s video statement at court on YouTube.com here.…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[2041,35,11734,11733,2040,342,2019,1308,11731,2043,2042,11740,11739,2025,11735,11736,11738,11732,11737,6874,356,650,64,61],"class_list":["post-16850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-anthony-mowl","tag-community","tag-deaf-life","tag-deaf-person-of-the-year","tag-donald-tropp","tag-fcc","tag-federal-communications-commission","tag-fraud","tag-integrated-microcomputer-systems","tag-john-yeh","tag-joseph-yeh","tag-judge-joel-a-pisano","tag-kevin-james-shay","tag-maryland","tag-national-asian-deaf-congress","tag-national-deaf-business-institute","tag-paul-f-kemp","tag-rockville","tag-stanley-j-reed","tag-u-s-district-court","tag-viable","tag-video-relay-service","tag-videophone","tag-vrs"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-4nM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12220,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2010\/11\/02\/owner-and-a-former-executive-of-indicted-video-relay-services-company-plead-guilty-to-defrauding-fcc-program\/","url_meta":{"origin":16850,"position":0},"title":"Owner and a Former Executive of Indicted Video Relay Services Company Plead Guilty to Defrauding FCC Program","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"November 2, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, October 28, 2010 Owner and a Former Executive of Indicted Video Relay Services Company Plead Guilty to Defrauding FCC Program WASHINGTON \u2013 John T.C. Yeh, the owner of Viable Communications Inc., and his brother, Joseph Yeh, the former vice\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6497,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/05\/18\/viable-expands-with-branch-in-austin-texas\/","url_meta":{"origin":16850,"position":1},"title":"Viable Expands with Branch in Austin, Texas","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"May 18, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Contact: Glenn Lockhart Viable Inc. Tel: 240.292.0222 x227 Fax: 301.230.2442 contact@viable.net www.viable.net Viable Expands with Branch in Austin, Texas ROCKVILLE, MD \u2013 May 14, 2009 \u2013 Viable, Inc., a deaf-owned and deaf-operated provider of video interpreting services for deaf and hard of hearing people, will open a business office in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8466,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/11\/20\/twenty-six-charged-in-nationwide-scheme-to-defraud-the-fcc%e2%80%99s-video-relay-service-program\/","url_meta":{"origin":16850,"position":2},"title":"Twenty-six Charged in Nationwide Scheme to Defraud the FCC\u2019s Video Relay Service Program","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"November 20, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, November 19, 2009 Twenty-six Charged in Nationwide Scheme to Defraud the FCC\u2019s Video Relay Service Program Arrests Made in Nine States Indictments were unsealed today against 26 people charged with engaging in a scheme to steal millions of dollars\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2639,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2007\/12\/10\/viable-brings-on-carla-mathers-as-staff-attorney\/","url_meta":{"origin":16850,"position":3},"title":"Viable Brings on Carla Mathers as Staff Attorney","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"December 10, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Glenn Lockhart Corporate Communications Viable Inc. Fax: 301.230.2442 contact@viable.net http:\/\/www.viable.net Viable Brings on Carla Mathers as Staff Attorney ROCKVILLE, MD \u0013 December 10, 2007 \u0013 Viable Inc. welcomes Carla Mathers, Esq. to the company as its corporate legal counsel. Viable develops and provides relay service technologies,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2714,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2008\/01\/03\/viable-to-launch-videophone-at-ces\/","url_meta":{"origin":16850,"position":4},"title":"Viable to Launch Videophone at CES","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"January 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Contact: Glenn Lockhart Viable Inc. Fax: 301.230.2442 contact@viable.net http:\/\/www.viable.net Viable to Launch Videophone at CES ROCKVILLE, MD \u0013 January 3, 2008 \u0013 Viable Inc., a provider of video relay services (VRS) for deaf and hard of hearing, will unveil its videophone this Saturday, January 5, at the International Consumer Electronics\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6742,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2009\/06\/16\/viable-rolls-out-videomail-for-missed-calls\/","url_meta":{"origin":16850,"position":5},"title":"Viable Rolls Out VideoMail for Missed Calls","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"June 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Contact: Glenn Lockhart Viable Inc. Tel: 240.292.0222 x227 Fax: 301.230.2442 contact@viable.net http:\/\/www.viable.net Viable Rolls Out VideoMail for Missed Calls ROCKVILLE, MD \u2013 June 10, 2009 - Viable, a deaf-owned provider of video relay services (VRS), has brought deaf and hard of hearing people one step closer to functional equivalence with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16850"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16851,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16850\/revisions\/16851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}