Workers accused of accessing Obama records pleaded not guilty

Eight of the nine former Vangent employees accused of illegally accessing President Obama's student loan records pleaded not guilty today in U.S. District Court.

The ninth defendant, Gary Grenell, 58, of Coralville, is out of the country and couldn't get back for today's hearing. His court appearance is set 9 a.m. July 2.

Eight are charged with one count of exceeding authorized computer access and Anne C. Rhodes, 32, of Iowa City, 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. A trial date for all defendants is set July 6.

Magistrate Celeste Bremer decided to combine the initial court appearance and arraignment since eight of the nine defendants were in court.

The others charged are: Andrew J. Lage, 54, Patrick E. Roan, 51, Sandra Teague, 54, and Mercedes Costoyas, 53, all of Iowa City; Grenell  and Lisa Torney, 49, both of Coralville; Julie L. Kline, 38, of West Branch; and John P. Phommivong, 29, of North Liberty.

Bremer released the eight on a promise to appear bond and said they would have to adhere to pre-trial services such as, being monitored for substance abuse, their travel will be restricted to the state, they can't possess firearms and they could receive home visits from services officials.

All of the defendants declined comment after the hearing.

David Treier, public defender for Phommivong, said after the hearing he didn't think anything from those records was used because the defendants were only charged with illegally accessing it.

“I'm not sure until I look at the discovery in the case,” Treier said. “It could have been out of curiosity (why they looked if they did).”

Treier said he didn't think the Vangent employees worked in the same building but they all knew each other.

Matthew Leddin, Teague's Davenport attorney, said he didn't know much about the case at this point. His next step was to investigate the allegations.

Teague is the only one who gave a comment to KCRG after being indicted. She denied ever accessing the records. She kept seven ID numbers for different Vangent databases, which changed every 30 days, and she would write the numbers on a sticky note she kept in her desk drawer.

The Department of Education and Office of Inspector General agents interviewed her and suggested she find a better place to keep her ID numbers. Teague thought the matter was resolved but she was fired “for cause” in 2008. She wasn't told why.

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.

Eileen Cassidy Rivera of Vangent based in Arlington, Va., said two weeks ago the nine workers were the subject of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education, and Vangent cooperated fully with authorities. Vangent officials don't believe the violation of company security policies was politically motivated, she 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 said why the nine were accessing the records or if the information was used in any way.

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