News : Peony liquor license suspended; business closed following sentencing of owners

This notice announces the suspension of the Peony liquor license.

A woman walked along the sidewalk on the south side of Fourth Street, and stopped to read the signs at the Peony Restaurant. One hand-written sign announced that the business is closed. Another sign, posted Thursday on the door of the restaurant, announces that the State of Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division has suspended the liquor license of the business.

"It's sad," she said, as she walked away.

The letter from the State of Iowa cites the provision in the Vinton Municipal Code that requires holders of liquor permits to be people of "good moral character." The sentencing of owners Chan Duong and Polly Long on Monday officially made them convicted federal felons. Even though they entered "guilty" please in November of 2010, it was not until their sentencing that the government began considering them as felons.

The lawyer for Duong, J. Keith Riggs, told the court during Monday's hearing that the couple has agreed to the forfeiture of their business. Before the search warrant in May that indicated continued law-breaking by the owners, the plea agreement had allowed them to keep the restaurants in Vinton and Toledo, as well as their home in Vinton. That home is now also subject to forfeiture, Riggs said during the hearing.