YUJIAN Zheng, one of five defendants indicted in 2024 for conspiracy to transport illegal aliens, has pled guilty to the charge and will be sentenced by the federal court on Sept. 29 at 9 a.m.
Zheng was arrested on Guam in August and transferred to the jurisdiction of the District Court for the NMI on Sept. 12.
Represented by attorney Mark Scoggins, Zheng pled guilty at a change-of-plea hearing on Sept. 17 before Magistrate Judge Heather Kennedy. Assistant U.S. Attorney Garth Backe appeared for the federal government.
Judge Kennedy found Zheng fully competent to enter a knowing and voluntary plea.
Zheng was indicted in January 2024 along with co-defendants Wenxing Wang, Lianpeng Zhang, Wenri Piao, and Guizhi Zang for conspiring “to transport and move themselves and each other by boat from the island of Saipan, in the CNMI, to the territory of Guam, knowing that the purpose and intent was to avoid detection by law enforcement and to enter the territory of Guam at a location other than a designated point of entry.”
The indictment states that the defendants paid more than $5,000 “as an overt act toward the completion of the movement and transportation of illegal aliens,” and that they were “citizens of the People’s Republic of China and were in the United States without valid or current legal immigration status.”
In August, Wang was sentenced to time served — a total of 57 days — and placed on probation for one year. As part of the judgment, Wang was ordered to report to immigration authorities for deportation proceedings. He was arrested on Guam in June.
Zhang pled guilty on March 8, 2024, and was sentenced to time served in July 2024.
As of Tuesday afternoon, no additional information was available regarding the remaining defendants, Wenri Piao and Guizhi Zang.
