THE District Court for the NMI has sentenced Aimin Zhang to serve eight months in prison for preventing or hampering deportation. The sentencing took place Thursday.
Zhang, 55, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, was indicted for preventing or hampering removal under 8 U.S.C. § 1253(a)(1)(C). He was also indicted for resisting a federal officer.
At the sentencing hearing, Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona ordered Zhang to serve one year of supervised release, complete 50 hours of community service, and pay a $100 special assessment fee.
Zhang was also ordered to report to immigration officials for deportation proceedings upon release from prison.
He was cited for violating his supervised release for a prior conviction of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
For violating his supervised release, the federal court sentenced Zhang to an additional six months’ imprisonment, to run consecutively to his term for the charges of preventing or hampering removal.
According to the Office of the United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, on April 30, 2025, during the immigration removal process at the Saipan international airport, Zhang refused to exit a vehicle operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations. Zhang’s departing flight was awaiting his boarding.
He eventually agreed to exit the vehicle but became physically uncooperative with the immigration officer. Zhang grabbed onto a nearby light pole and attempted to insert his hand into an uncapped electrical outlet, posing a serious safety hazard.
Once officers removed Zhang from the light pole, he immediately grabbed a nearby signpost and refused multiple lawful commands to release his grip. As officers attempted to remove him, one officer’s arm was briefly pinned between the post and Zhang’s body. The officer was freed without serious injury.
Zhang was then handcuffed and transported back to the CNMI Department of Corrections.
“The enforcement of immigration laws is our highest priority,” said U.S. Attorney Shawn Anderson in a statement. “Zhang showed no respect for the law or the officers working to uphold it. This case demonstrates the federal government’s ongoing commitment to removing illegal aliens from our country,” Anderson added.
The case was investigated by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Garth Backe prosecuted the case, while court-appointed defense attorney Mark Scoggins represented Zhang.
The indictment against Zhang stated: “On or about April 30, 2025, Defendant Aimin Zhang, an alien against whom a final order of removal was outstanding, by reason of being a member of any of the classes described in Title 8, United States Code, Section 1227(a), did take action designed to prevent and hamper, and with the purpose of preventing and hampering, his departure from the United States.”
The indictment further states that on or about April 30, 2025, Zhang “did forcibly assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, and interfere with persons designated in 18 U.S.C. § 1114, to wit: United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations officers C.S.D. and S.T.W., while such persons were engaged in the performance of official duties.”
