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Peng sentenced for harboring birth tourist
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Posted on Jun 14 2017
Shawn N. Anderson, acting U.S. attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced yesterday that Richard Peng aka Pai Peng, a citizen of the United States and Taiwan, was sentenced on June 12, 2017, in the U.S. District Court, to six months imprisonment for harboring a pregnant illegal alien.
The court also ordered a one-year term of supervised release following Peng’s release, and a fine of $2,000, in addition to the payment of a mandatory $100 assessment fee.
On Aug. 2, 2016, Peng was charged with harboring an illegal alien. On Aug. 3, 2016, Peng pleaded guilty to the charge. From November 2014 until February 2015, Peng housed a Chinese birth-tourist after she had overstayed her conditional parole, with the intention that she not be detected by immigration authorities.
Anderson stated, “On April 11, 2017, [U.S.] Attorney General [Jeff] Sessions announced that [the Department of Justice] will place a high priority on establishing lawfulness in our immigration system. The district of the Northern Mariana Islands will see an increase in federal law enforcement efforts to implement this important policy change. As this case demonstrates, the department is committed to holding persons accountable for enticing, encouraging and abetting aliens who unlawfully enter or remain in the United States.”
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations. The case was prosecuted by James J. Benedetto, assistant U.S. attorney for the District of the Northern Mariana Islands. (USAO)
