CNN
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A US citizen arrested in 2023 in connection to running an “overseas police station” in New York City pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to conspiring to act as an agent of the Chinese government.
Chen Jinping, a naturalized US citizen who lives in New York City, faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government.
“Today, a participant in a transnational repression scheme who worked to establish a secret police station in the middle of New York City on behalf of the national police force of the People’s Republic of China has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to act as an illegal agent,” US Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement following the hearing.
Through a translator in court, Chen said he sought to remove an online article on behalf of the Chinese government in 2022. Chen read a brief statement acknowledging that he knowingly agreed with others to act as an agent for China.
His court-appointed attorney declined to comment to CNN on the plea agreement.
In the fall of 2022, Chen had an article “regarding the PRC government’s operation of the Overseas Police Station” removed from a Chinese media outlet at the direction of a Chinese government official, the indictment said.
The FBI arrested Chen and another man in New York in April 2023, charging them with conspiracy to act as foreign agents and an additional count of obstructing justice for allegedly deleting messages with officials from China’s Ministry of Public Security.
At the time, federal prosecutors had charged dozens of other alleged Chinese agents with working to silence and harass dissidents within the United States.
The police station in New York was shut down after a search warrant was executed at the location in 2022, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
Chen’s co-defendant is also in plea negotiations with the US attorney’s office, according to court records.
Chen, who was released on bond after his arrest, is scheduled to be sentenced May 30. His son and daughter sat in the front row of the courtroom during the hearing on Wednesday.