Thursday, March 16, 2000, 10:40
p.m. Pacific
Two guilty of smuggling Chinese
nationals
by Joshua Robin
Seattle Times staff reporter
In the first conviction involving the recent smuggling of Chinese
nationals into the United States inside cargo-ship containers, two men
pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to attempting to transport 12
undocumented aliens from the Port of Seattle to New York City.
The charge against Yu Zheng and Sheng Ding was originally part of a
four-count indictment. But as part of a plea agreement, the U.S.
Attorney's Office dropped a conspiracy indictment and two other charges.
Zheng and Ding admitted only the illegal-transportation charges, which
under federal guidelines carries a sentencing range of two to two and a
half years.
The prosecuting attorney, Don Reno, called the outcome "a very fair
resolution."
Zheng, 35, and Ding, 29, were arrested by agents for the Immigration
and Naturalization Service after they were seen circling Terminal 18 on
Harbor Island on Jan. 2 around the time the ship OOCL Faith docked after
arriving from Hong Kong. Federal agents discovered 12 Chinese nationals on
board in a metal container that usually carries machinery.
Lawyers for both sides said even if Zheng and Ding were convicted of
all four original charges, the sentence would not be much different.
The most serious charge in the original indictment, conspiracy to bring
in illegal aliens for financial gain, carries a mandatory minimum sentence
of three years and a maximum of 10. But judges have not given out
sentences greater than five years in those cases, said Carol Koller,
Zheng's defense attorney.
Koller added that if the case had gone to trial, the defense would have
questioned whether federal agents improperly searched the two men's hotel
room and van.
"We were certainly prepared to litigate it, and we were prepared to
litigate the charges themselves," Koller said.
Neither man agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors in divulging
more information, Reno said.
While Reno said he did not expect to file more charges against them,
the the U.S. Attorney's Office is working on other smuggling cases.
One of those involves the Cape May, a cargo ship, which docked at the
Port of Seattle on Jan. 10 carrying 18 Chinese stowaways inside a fetid
cargo container. Three died on the journey.
Sentencing was set for June 2.
Since Jan. 1, 103 Chinese nationals - 48 in Seattle - have been
apprehended at West Coast ports in the U.S. and Canada after being
smuggled in shipping containers.
Joshua Robin's phone message number is 206-464-8255.
Copyright © 2000 The
Seattle Times Company
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