Now both have criminal convictions in Vermont

By Michael Donoghue, Vermont News First

An earlier version of this news story was published in the Caledonian-Record.

BURLINGTON — A Quebec father who attempted to use his 18-year-old son to help smuggle him illegally into the United States near the Haskell Library and Opera House in Derby Line has been able to net both of them short jail terms and trips back home.

Van Hoa Phung, 49, of Laval, Que. pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Burlington on Friday afternoon to a misdemeanor charge of being an illegal immigrant entering the United States while willfully concealing a material fact from immigration officials.

His son, Reason Phung, 18, also pleaded guilty at a later hearing Friday to a charge of filing a false statement while entering the United States.  The teen had falsely maintained he was going to visit his grandparents, the Border Patrol said.  He eventually told investigators the real reason was to drop his father at the airport in Plattsburgh, N.Y. and then return to Canada.

The teen-ager was asked if he was aware of his father’s earlier criminal record, and he said he knew about it, but did not discuss it.  He said he was a small child when his father spent time in jail, the U.S. Border Patrol reported.

Border Patrol agents caught the two family members as they attempted the illegal entry shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday, court records show.

They were held overnight and appeared in federal court to admit to the criminal charges.

Federal Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle agreed to a proposed plea deal that called for “time served sentences” and avoided any fines or court assessments. 

The older Phung, who was born in Vietnam, owns property in Florida, but had been denied waivers recently to enter the country, the Border Patrol said.

Instead of waiting for his latest application to be approved, Van Hoa Phung enlisted his son to drop him near the international border north of Derby Line, officials said.  While he walked over the border near the Haskell Library and Opera House, his son drove across the border at a legal checkpoint on Interstate 91 in Derby Line, the Border Patrol said.

The teen-ager, however, then picked up his father, the Border Patrol said.   The Border Patrol, acting on a tip, later pulled him over driving southbound in a red Tesla near the Shaw’s Supermarket on U.S. 5, officials said.

Authorities were willing to resolve the case quickly because there was no evidence of drugs, guns or any violence or exploitation of people planned when they entered the country.  It was for family matters.

“The Border Patrol has been gracious,” Chief Federal Defender Michael Desautels said in court. 

Doyle said the father better understand the next time he will be facing a felony and the teen-ager was lucky the government opted not to charge him with a felony this time.

Doyle said in court that it was unfortunate the older Phung, who has three children at home, got impatient waiting for his permit to travel again to the U.S. and enlisted his son in an illegal act.  Doyle called it “heartbreaking” that the son now has a criminal record.

The younger son, who was born in Canada, had not been in trouble and Desautels said he appears to have a future playing hockey.

The teen’s defense lawyer, Robert Behrens, called it a “big mistake last night.”

Doyle noted the older Phung had received a waiver to enter the country on April 24, 2024 and that it expired in March.

However he also had some earlier rejections trying to cross the border, including at Massena, N.Y., on July 11, 2022 and Aug. 23, 2023, Border Patrol records show.

He also was rejected at the border on May 31, 2022 at Derby Line, but was apparently due to an unspecified criminal history in Canada, the Border Patrol said. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Stendig said the government was willing to waive any fine or special assessment in both cases.

The plan appeared to be to try to bring both defendants back to the international border as early as Friday evening and get them on their way home.

For decades the Haskell Library and Opera House, which straddles the international boundary, has been a problem area for unlawful entry by illegal immigrants and for smuggling of guns, drugs and other items, the Border Patrol has said.  Efforts over the years to tighten the border in Derby Line near the Haskell had fallen short until steps were taken this year by federal officials after the election of President Donald J. Trump, authorities have said.  Trump has ordered a crackdown on the flood of illegal immigrants entering the country at both the northern and southern borders.

Drug smugglers and traffickers, along with people trying to bring guns into or out of the country have used the Victorian-style brick and stone building. The village of Derby Line has about 700 residents, while adjoining Stanstead, Que is a town of about 3,000 residents.

Last month an illegal immigrant from Venezuela pleaded guilty to trying to enter the United States near the Haskell Library while transporting a loaded .22-caliber semiautomatic and a silencer.  Federal agents also seized multiple knives, a collapsible steel baton, several handcuff keys, zip ties and three cell phones, the Border Patrol said.  They said the suspect had about 50 rounds of .22-caliber ammunition and about 30 rounds of 9-mm ammunition.