FILE – In this April 15, 2019, file court sketch, Yujing Zhang, left, a Chinese woman charged with lying to illegally enter President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, listens to a hearing before Magistrate Judge William Matthewman in West Palm Beach, Fla. Federal prosecutors want an 18-month prison sentence for the Chinese businesswoman convicted of trespassing and lying to Secret Service agents. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rolando Garcia said in a court memo that he agrees sentencing guidelines suggest that Zhang get between zero and six months when she is sentenced in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Nov. 22. (Daniel Pontet via AP, File)
A Chinese businesswoman convicted of trespassing at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and lying to federal agents has been handed over to immigration officials.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement records showed Wednesday that 33-year-old Yujing Zhang was being held at the Glades County Detention Center in Moore Haven, Florida.
The Shanghai consultant was convicted in September of trespassing at the Florida resort in March and lying to Secret Service agents who confronted her. She was sentenced to eight months last week in Fort Lauderdale federal court. Because she had been deemed a flight risk and denied bail while awaiting her trial, that meant she only had about a week left to serve. The judge in her case also ordered that she be deported, though it wasn’t clear when that would happen.
When Zhang was arrested, she was carrying four cellphones, a computer and an external hard drive, leading to speculation she could be a spy. She was never charged with espionage, though, and text messages presented at trial suggest she is obsessed with Trump.
The president was at a golf course when Zhang arrived at Mar-a-Lago.
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