Eileen Wang, former mayor of Arcadia in Southern California, pleaded guilty on Friday (May 29, 2026) to acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government. The development comes nearly three weeks after the the Justice Department announced that she was charged in federal court with acting as an illegal agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Wang, 56, was charged by information with one count of acting in the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign government, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. In a related filing, she agreed to plead guilty to the felony charge, which carries a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.Wang shared articles favourable to Beijing Wang stepped down as the mayor of Arcadia earlier in May 2026. She pleaded guilty to doing the bidding of Chinese officials by sharing articles favourable to Beijing, without prior notification to the US government as required by law. The 56-year-old was elected in November 2022 to a five-person city council, from which the mayor is selected on a rotating basis. Federal prosecutors say Wang's illegal conduct occurred from late 2020 to 2022. Arcadia city officials and Wang's attorneys have said it ended before she took office.Arcadia is located about 13 miles (21 kilometres) northeast of Los Angeles. The city of about 53,000 is majority Asian and has a high concentration of Chinese residents.Wang appeared in downtown LA federal court to enter her plea. The hearing included procedural questions from US District Judge Wesley Hsu to ensure Wang understood her rights and the consequences of her guilty plea. A Mandarin interpreter was present but Wang said she did not need their assistance.Court Sets Date for Sentencing Wang was allowed to remain out on a USD 25,000 bond until her sentencing on October 6, 2026, news agency AP reported. She faces up to 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release. According to her plea agreement, Wang and her fiancé at the time, Yaoning "Mike" Sun, worked on behalf of government officials for the People's Republic of China by promoting their propaganda on a website called US News Center.Sun is serving a four-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to the same charge last October. He was also listed in campaign filings as the treasurer for Wang's 2022 election campaign.
Eileen Wang, ex-Arcadia mayor, pleads guilty to secretly acting as agent of Chinese govt; when will sentencing come, and how long could she spend behind bars?
Eileen Wang, former mayor of Arcadia, California, has pleaded guilty to acting as an illegal agent for the Chinese government. She admitted to promoting Beijing's propaganda without notifying US authorities. Wang's plea follows charges filed by the Justice Department. Her sentencing is scheduled for later this year. Her fiancé, Yaoning Sun, is already serving a sentence for a similar charge.
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