Eileen Wang, the recently resigned mayor of Arcadia, California, appeared in federal court Monday to face charges that she illegally served as an agent of the Chinese government while holding office in the Los Angeles-area city of 56,000 residents.
Wang agreed to plead guilty to one count of acting as an unregistered foreign agent. She was released on a $25,000 bond pending sentencing, which is expected within several weeks. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, though prosecutors indicated they will recommend guideline reductions.
According to court filings and the U.S. attorney's office, Wang and Yaoning "Mike" Sun operated a website called "U.S. News Center" and posted pro-China propaganda at the direction of Chinese government officials. In one instance documented by prosecutors, a high-ranking Chinese official named John Chen wrote to Wang in November 2021 asking her to post content, stating "This is what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wants to send." Chen was later sentenced to 20 months in prison after pleading guilty to bribery and acting as an unregistered Chinese agent.
"By her own admission, Eileen Wang secretly served the interests of the Chinese government," said Roman Rozhavsky, assistant director of the FBI's counterintelligence and espionage division.
Wang's plea agreement requires her to admit she failed to notify the U.S. attorney general as mandated by law. She and Sun sometimes sought permission from Chinese officials before posting content to their website.
Her defense attorneys, Brian A. Sun and Jason Liang, characterized the conduct as a personal matter unrelated to her mayoral duties. They noted that Wang and Yaoning Sun were in a romantic relationship and that her involvement with the website predated her election as mayor in 2022.
"She apologizes and is sorry for the mistakes she has made in her personal life. Her love and devotion for the Arcadia community have not changed and did not waver," the attorneys said in a statement Monday.
Sun had already pleaded guilty in October to a similar charge and is serving a four-year prison sentence. The government is expected to recommend sentence reductions for Wang, though a judge will make the final determination.
Wang's resignation became official Monday, and the Arcadia City Council will select her replacement at its next meeting. Arcadia sits in the San Gabriel Valley roughly 13 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles and is home to a large Asian-American population, with about 59% of residents identifying as Asian according to census data.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "This case exposes how foreign influence operations can reach deep into American local government, even in communities that pride themselves on civic engagement."
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