Guilty plea in minimum wage case

By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff

A Worcester man has pleaded guilty to charges of failing to pay the minimum wage to hundreds of workers and has been ordered to pay $500,000 in restitution, the office of state Attorney General Martha Coakley said today.

Coakley's office said in a statement that Tam Vuong, 35, and his temporary staffing company, Labor Solutions Inc., were charged with 65 counts of violating state wage and hour laws.

Authorities began investigating Vuong in April 2008, Coakley's office said, and found that he paid less than the minimum wage to workers between 2007 and 2009. Labor Solutions collected $24 million from its client companies between 2004 and 2008, Coakley's office said.

Vuong was also ordered to serve five years' probation. Prosecutors had recommended that he serve three to five years in prison and pay $1.3 million in restitution, Coakley's office said.