SANTA ANA, CALIF.
An attorney was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for helping a female witness in a “Chinese Birthing House” investigation try to flee U.S., according to officials.
Irvine-based immigration attorney Ken Zhiyi Liang, 39, was found guilty in September of obstructing justice and tampering with a witness in relation to a scheme.
Liang tried to help the female witness, identified as “D.L.,” in a criminal investigation into birthing houses operating in Southern California, officials said.
Liang, of Irvine, was sentenced Monday.
The Press Enterprise newspaper reported that U.S. District Judge Andrew J. Guildford chastised Liang for failing in his obligation as a lawyer to help clients navigate the complexities of the legal system.
“It reflects very poorly on you,” he said. “I consider it a serious offense.”
Liang said he was sorry for his actions. “I sincerely apologize for my terrible judgment,” he told Guilford, the newspaper reported.
Liang said he plans to surrender his law license, according to the newspaper.
The federal investigation, which became known when authorities executed dozens of search warrants nearly a year ago, focuses on so-called birthing houses that “provided services to Chinese nationals, who travelled into the United States from China, for the purpose of giving birth to children so that the children could obtain United States citizenship,” according to court documents.
Liang didn’t know at the time that the witness, identified as “D.L.,” was cooperating with federal agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, who were monitoring conversations between Liang and the witness.
Liang “was caught on hours of video and audio recordings selling and marketing his abilities to D.L. to help smuggle her out of the U.S. in violation of court orders, in exchange for a $6,000 fee to himself and a $1,500 to $3,000 fee for three co-conspirators that would assist him,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing brief filed with the court.
D.L., a Chinese national had been designated as a material witness in the federal investigation, meaning she was subject to a court order preventing her from leaving the U.S. without authorization from the government or court.
Liang had represented D.L. in the matter for about a month until the court removed him as attorney of record, over his objections, in April 2015.
“As an attorney and officer of the court, Mr. Liang owed a heightened duty to respect and follow court orders,” said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker . “Instead Mr. Liang chose to violate those court orders, and induced others to violate court orders, for his own personal profit. Today’s sentence is a reminder of the importance of court orders and protecting the integrity of federal investigations.”
Liang was arrested on May 15 by federal authorities as he was walking with D.L. towards his car, supposedly to begin a trip to a coffee shop in Corona, where he was going to introduce D.L. to the co-conspirators, officials said.
After his arrest, Liang led agents back to his office, where he returned the $6,000 he had accepted from the witness.
Liang has remained in custody since his arrest last spring.
According to court documents, Liang provided assistance to two other material witnesses who fled to China, and to another material witness who was intercepted at Los Angeles International Airport on April 15.