Family Members Plead No Contest In San Jose Group Home Abuse
SAN JOSE (CBS/AP) -- Three family members accused of running an unlicensed group home in an upscale San Jose neighborhood that was littered with excrement and overrun by dogs have pleaded no contest to abuse charges.
63-year-old Jennifer Ngo and her 25-year-old son, Charles Nguyen, entered the pleas on Tuesday, each to multiple counts of abuse. One of the family's adult daughters, Margarete Ngo, also pleaded.
Prosecutors say more than a dozen mentally ill men and women, many of them Vietnamese immigrants, stayed at the home. In addition to the deplorable conditions, some of the residents told authorities they were beaten, denied food and medication and had their Social Security and disability benefits taken.
Two other family members were also charged in the case. One of them, 72-year-old George Dac Nguyen, died while in jail.
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