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One more pled guilty to alien smuggling
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Posted on Jun 15 1999
Another person charged with attempted alien smuggling in the federal court yesterday changed his earlier plea of innocence and admitted to charges that he and his cohorts tried to bring undocumented Chinese nationals into Guam.
Xiao Jin Zhan is the second person among six defendants to enter into a plea agreement with the US District Court.
District Court Judge Alex Munson set Xiao’s sentencing for Sept. 23.
Three more defendants are scheduled to enter into a plea agreement tomorrow.
Last Friday, Jin Hua Lin, who was assisted by his legal counsel and an interpreter, pled guilty to the charges and will be sentenced by the U.S. District Court on Sept. 16.
According to U.S. Asst. Atty. Kevin Seely, the six crewmen led a ship ferrying 141 undocumented Chinese nationals on their way to Guam last April.
The ship was intercepted by the US Coast Guard and was diverted to Tinian, where hundreds of other undocumented aliens from China were being held.
The migrants boarded the ship in China at night and traveled for several days toward Guam with the intention of sneaking “through darkness into the island,” according to the US government’s attorney.
The six men were charged with “conspiracy to commit an offense against the U.S., attempted alien smuggling for financial gain, and inducing aliens to the U.S.”
Also charged Zhi Jian Ruan, Mo Qing Wang, and Qing Zhen Wang, and Shan Lun Huang.(MCM)
