Illegal Chinese Immigrant Sentenced to 27 Months Over Possession of Marijuana, Firearms

The Department of Justice in Washington on Jan. 9, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

A Chinese national has been sentenced to 27 months in federal U.S. prison for crimes including illegally possessing marijuana and firearms, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana announced on Jan. 21.

Zheng Shi Gang, 55, illegally entered the United States in 1991 near Douglas, Arizona, and was never deported back to China because Chinese authorities “declined to issue travel documents” to facilitate his removal, according to a court document. Consequently, Zheng has stayed in the United States illegally.

According to court documents, in July 2018, Zheng filed a petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, saying he didn’t possess any firearms, significant jewelry, or other assets. However, his claims turned out to be fraudulent, as the Department of Justice’s Trustee office found several “empty designer watch boxes” and “an extensive wine collection, wall art, sports memorabilia, and firearms” at his residence in March 2019.

A total of seven firearms were seized at Zheng’s residence after the Homeland Security Investigation executed a search warrant.

Zheng also made false statements about the empty designer watch boxes, claiming they were “old boxes that had been moved from a previous residence,” according to the court document. Local law enforcement eventually found designer watches including one by the brand Audemars Piguet at a safety deposit box owned by Zheng.

In September 2023, local law enforcement agents in Louisiana stopped Zheng’s car, believing that a drug transaction was taking place, according to the court document. About 51.3 kilograms of marijuana was subsequently found in his car and residence after the search.

Prosecutors said that Zheng was prohibited from having firearms and marijuana because of his immigration status.

In April last year, Zheng pleaded guilty to three charges—false statement under oath in a bank proceeding, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, and illegal alien in possession of a firearm, according to a court document.

On Jan. 16, District Judge Barry W. Ashe of the Eastern District of Louisiana sentenced Zheng to 27 months of imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a $300 payment covering a special assessment fee.

The judge has issued an order asking Zheng to turn himself in before March 17 to serve his prison term.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana explained that the case is part of Project Safe Neighborhood, a nationwide program launched in 2001 to reduce violent crime and gun violence.

In June last year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducted the first mass deportation of Chinese nationals since 2018, when a chartered flight carried 116 individuals back to their home country.

Since then, the DHS has conducted four other mass deportations of Chinese nationals, with the most recent one on Jan. 6. According to the DHS, the removal flights had resulted in a decrease in the number of illegal Chinese immigrants encountered at the southwest U.S. border, dropping from 2,160 in June last year to 820 in December last year.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who was sworn in on Jan. 25 after her Senate confirmation, has previously voiced support for the U.S. policy of deporting illegal Chinese immigrants.

“Just this last summer, we confirmed we had Chinese spies in [South Dakota] trying to steal our technology and information—the threat is real,” wrote Noem, who is the former South Dakota governor, in a post on the social media platform in April last year. “Too many of these illegal border crossers are military-aged males on an explicit mission from the Chinese Communist Party. They should all be deported back to China.”

In a separate X post in August 2023, Noem addressed the fentanyl crisis in the United States. Mexican cartels have been buying precursor chemicals from China to make the synthetic opioid drug, and shipping the finished product to the United States.

“Stopping the Chinese Communist Party’s invasion of America begins at our southern border. China is the primary source for the flow of fentanyl into American communities,” Noem wrote.

“Closing the border and holding China accountable will save lives and protect South Dakota families.”