Chunmei Zhang, 55, of China, was found guilty of illegal entry into the United States following a trial, United States Attorney Delia L. Smith announced Thursday.
According to evidence introduced at trial, on July 25, Zhang and her husband, Sheng Chen, 55, arrived at the Cyril E. King airport on St. Thomas and attempted to board a Delta flight to New York. Both were referred to Customs and Border Protection for inspection as neither had a United States passport or any other travel documents in their possession. When interviewed, Zhang and Chen stated that they arrived on St. Thomas on July 24 by boat from Suriname and admitted paying approximately $25,000 to their traffickers to transport them to St. Thomas. Both Zhang and Chen are Chinese nationals, and no record exists of either applying for, seeking, or receiving prior permission to enter or reside in the United States. On their convictions, Zhang and Chen were sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge Ruth Miller to time served.
