Prosecutors want 18-month sentence for Mar-a-Lago trespasser

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Prosecutors want 18-month sentence for Mar-a-Lago trespasser

2019-11-13 01:20 Last Updated At：01:30

Federal prosecutors want an 18-month prison sentence for a Chinese businesswoman convicted of trespassing at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club and lying to Secret Service agents.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rolando Garcia said in a court memo posted this week that he agrees sentencing guidelines suggest that Yujing Zhang get between zero and six months when she is sentenced Nov. 22 in Fort Lauderdale.

But Garcia urged District Judge Roy Altman to give Zhang, 33, a harsher sentence because she not only lied to agents after gaining admission to the president's Palm Beach club on March 30 but also about her finances, hiding about $50,000.

He said the Shanghai consultant also lied to agents when she said she had come to Mar-a-Lago to use the pool, which resulted in management believing she was related to a member named Zhang and granting her admission.

He said she also lied about why she was carrying four cellphones, a computer and an external hard drive at the club, telling agents she feared they would be stolen if she left them in her hotel room. But when agents checked the room, they found $8,000, credit and debit cards and other electronic gear.

Garcia said she lied to a limo driver about her name, calling herself "Veronica," and when she told a Mar-a-Lago receptionist she was there for a United Nations Chinese-American Association event.

Zhang "lied to practically everyone she encountered in the United States," Garcia wrote.

Zhang was convicted in September after acting as her own attorney during her three-day trial. She has not filed a sentencing memo. She is jailed without bond and can't be reached for comment.

Zhang's troubles began in February when she paid $20,000 to "Charles," a man she knew only online, to attend a Chinese-American friendship event at Mar-a-Lago on March 30 as part of a seven-day excursion that included trips to Washington, D.C., and New York City.

The Mar-a-Lago event included a promised photo with the president or a member of his family. Such meet-and-greets are common at Mar-a-Lago, the exclusive club Trump has run since 1995 on the grounds of a 1920s mansion built by cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post.

Zhang's former public defenders believe "Charles" is Charles Lee, a Chinese national who ran the United Nations Chinese Friendship Association. It is not affiliated with the U.N. He was photographed at least twice with Cindy Yang, a Republican donor and former Florida massage parlor owner who organized Mar-a-Lago events.

But prosecutors say Charles had told Zhang in text messages before she left China that the event had been canceled and she had demanded a refund, showing that she understood.

Blinken, in Shanghai, begins expected contentious talks with Chinese officials

2024-04-25 11:27 Last Updated At：11:40

SHANGHAI (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken opened his first full day of meetings in China on Thursday by talking with local government officials in Shanghai.

Blinken discussed local and regional issues with Chen Jining, the Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Shanghai. He also planned to speak to students and business leaders before flying to Beijing for what are expected to be contentious talks with national officials, including Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Blinken arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday shortly before President Joe Biden signed a $95 billion foreign aid package that has several elements likely to anger the Chinese, including $8 billion to counter China’s growing aggressiveness toward Taiwan and in the South China Sea. It also seeks to force TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell the social media platform.

China has railed against U.S. assistance to Taiwan, the self-governing island that it regards as a renegade province, and immediately condemned the move as a dangerous provocation. It also strongly opposes efforts to force TikTok’s sale.

Still, the fact that Blinken made the trip — shortly after a conversation between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, a similar visit to China by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and a call between the U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs — is a sign the two sides are at least willing to discuss their differences.

“I think it’s important to underscore the value — in fact, the necessity — of direct engagement, of speaking to each other, laying out our differences, which are real, seeking to work through them,” Blinken told Chen.

“We have an obligation for our people, indeed an obligation to the world, to manage the relationship between our two countries responsibly,” he said. “That is the obligation we have, and one that we take very seriously.”

Chen agreed with that sentiment and said the recent Biden-Xi call had helped the “stable and healthy development of our two countries’ relationship.”

“Whether we choose cooperation or confrontation affects the well-being of both peoples, both countries, and the future of humanity” he said.

Chen added that he hoped Blinken was able to get a “deep impression and understanding” of Shanghai.

Shortly after arriving, Blinken attended a Chinese basketball playoff game between the local Shanghai Sharks and the Zhejiang Golden Bulls, with the home team losing in the last seconds in 121-120 nailbiter.