10 Filipino nurses face charges in New York

RIVERHEAD, New York – Ten Filipino nurses who resigned without notice from a medical facility that cares for the physically disabled pleaded not guilty Thursday to conspiracy and child endangerment charges, prosecutors said.

The nurses, recruited in the Philippines to work in the United States for a three-year commitment, sought to break that commitment by walking out on their jobs, Suffolk County prosecutors charged.

An indictment says the nurses’ Manhattan attorney, Felix Vinluan, instructed them to resign without notice last April. Vinluan also was charged and pleaded not guilty.

Although none of the children at the facility suffered ill effects from the walkout, criminal charges were filed because the children were endangered, Assistant District Attorney Leonard Lato said.

"It’s just like if a parent leaves a child in a car with the windows up in the summertime," he said. "It doesn’t matter if nothing happens to the child; the fact that they were left in a dangerous situation is the crime."

The defendants face up to six years in prison if convicted, and the nurses could face deportation. – AP