Trials continued for employees charged with accessing Obama’s student loan records

One of the former Vangent employees accused of illegally accessing President Obama's student loan records asked for change of plea hearing and seven of the others charged in the case asked for their trials to be continued in U.S. District Court.

Mercedes Costoyas, 53, of Iowa City, who pleaded not guilty last month, has a change of plea hearing set 11 a.m. Wednesday. No other details were included on the filing made Friday. Her trial date remains set for July 6.

Seven of the defendants asked for continuances and their trials are reset to Aug. 2 are: Andrew J. Lage, 54, Patrick E. Roan, 51, and Sandra Teague, 54, all of Iowa City; Lisa Torney, 49, of Coralville; Julie L. Kline, 38, of West Branch; John P. Phommivong, 29, of North Liberty and Anne C. Rhodes, 32, of Iowa City. All pleaded not guilty last month.

The ninth defendant, Gary Grenell, 58, of Coralville, was out of the country at the time of the initial appearance last month and will have his hearing 9 .m. July 2.

Eight are charged with one count of exceeding authorized computer access and Rhodes is charged with two counts. If convicted of the misdemeanor, the eight face up to one year in prison and up to $100,000 fine, and Rhodes  would face up to two years in prison.

The student loan records were accessed between July 2007 and March 2009, when Obama was either a presidential candidate, the president-elect or the president, authorities said.

The workers were employed by the Vangent call center in Coralville. They handled incoming calls for various agencies, including financial aid applications for the U.S. Department of Education. The forms contain confidential financial and family information.

Federal authorities haven't explained why the nine were accessing the records or if the information was used in any way.