Eileen Wang, the former mayor of Arcadia, California, pleaded guilty on May 29 to one count of acting in the United States as an illegal agent of China, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 6, and she remains free on bond, according to the DOJ.

Wang was charged with one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. Federal prosecutors said the felony charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

Wang was elected to the Arcadia City Council in November 2022. The city council consists of five members, and the mayoral position rotates among them.

According to prosecutors, Wang worked from late 2020 through 2022 with Yaoning “Mike” Sun of Chino Hills at the direction and control of Chinese government officials. The Justice Department said the pair coordinated with people in the United States to promote Chinese regime interests and distribute pro-China propaganda.

Federal officials said Wang and Sun operated a website called U.S. News Center that presented itself as a news source for the local Chinese American community. Prosecutors said Chinese government officials directed Wang and Sun to publish pro-China content on the site.

Court documents describe several examples cited by prosecutors. In June 2021, a Chinese official allegedly sent Wang and others pre-written articles through the WeChat messaging application, including material disputing accusations of genocide and forced labor in Xinjiang. Prosecutors said Wang posted the article to her website within minutes and provided the official with a link to the published content.

In another incident described in the plea agreement, Wang allegedly edited an article at the request of a Chinese official and later sent a screenshot showing the article had received more than 15,000 views. Prosecutors said the official responded by saying, “Great!” and Wang replied, “Thank you leader.”

The Justice Department also said Wang communicated with John Chen, identified in court documents as a high-level member of the Chinese intelligence apparatus who attended Chinese Communist Party events and met personally with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Chen previously pleaded guilty in a separate federal case involving acting as an illegal agent of China.

Federal prosecutors said Wang admitted she never notified the U.S. attorney general that she was acting as an agent of the Chinese regime while operating in the United States.

“Individuals elected to public office in the United States should act only for the people of the United States that they represent,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said in a statement released on May 11. 

“It is deeply concerning that someone who previously received and executed directives from PRC government officials is now in a position of public trust at all, but particularly so because that relationship with that foreign government had never been disclosed.”