Washington, DC - Linda Singer, Acting Attorney General for the District of Columbia, announced today that her Office has won reinstatement of more than two thousand charges alleging housing code violations against a convicted slumlord.

On Friday, February 9, 2007, Judge Gerald Fisher found that David Nuyen had "imbedded" himself in the residential property rental business within the District of Columbia over the course of his five year probationary period, violating the terms of a 2001 plea agreement.

In 2001 Nuyen was charged by the District with 2378 counts of a variety of housing code violations, but under the plea agreement, the Government dismissed 2368 of the counts in exchange for Nuyen's plea to10 of the counts and his promise to pay a $10,000 fine. He also agreed to withdraw from the residential housing rental business and to divest his residential rental property holdings within the District of Columbia.. The agreement stipulated that if Mr. Nuyen did not comply with the terms of the plea agreement within a fixed period of time, the 2378 dismissed could be reinstated.

In an unrelated matter in 2002, Mr. Nuyen pled guilty in federal court to three federal charges stemming from his filing of a false lead paint disclosure form related to a building that he owned at the time. He served two years in federal prison on those charges.

In 2006, prosecutors with the Office of the Attorney General alleged that Mr. Nuyen had failed to comply with the 2001 agreement by transferring his business interests and properties to various family members, yet he maintained control over their operation and continued to receive profits. In the February 9th ruling, Judge Fisher agreed with prosecutors and ordered the reinstatement of the 2368 charges. Mr. Nuyen's conviction on the original 10 counts to which he pleaded guilty in 2001 will remain in effect.

"I am very pleased with the Court's decision. Keeping the terms of a plea agreement are not optional. Mr. Nuyen's actions cannot be tolerated," said General Singer.

Mr. Nuyen now faces trial on the remaining 2368 housing code violations. If found guilty, he could face 90 days in jail per violation, and a $ 300 fine for each violation.