A Southern California mayor has pleaded guilty to acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government, and has resigned from his city post, officials said Monday.
Eileen Wang, the mayor of Arcadia, was charged in April with one count of acting in the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign government. He was accused of doing the bidding of Chinese officials, such as handing out provisions that favor Beijing, without prior notification to the US government as required by law.
The 58-year-old was elected in November 2022 to the five-member city council, whose mayor is elected on a rotating basis.
City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto said in a news release that no city funds or personnel were involved.
“We want to be clear: this investigation is about the conduct of an individual, and the charges are for conduct that ceased after Ms. Wang was sworn into office in December 2022,” he said.
Federal officials said he has agreed to plead guilty to the charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
