Chinese National Convicted at Trial of Entering the Restricted Grounds at Mar-a-Lago and Lying to U.S. Secret Service Agents

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Brian Swain, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service (USSS), Miami Field Office, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office announced that Yujing Zhang, 33, a Chinese national, was convicted by a South Florida federal jury today of unlawful entry of restricted buildings or grounds, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1752(a)(1) (Count 1), and making false statements to the U.S. Secret Service, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001 (Count 2) (Case No. 19CR80056).

Zhang is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman, in Fort Lauderdale, on November 22, 2019, at 10 a.m.  Zhang faces a maximum statutory sentence of 1 year in prison, up to 1 year of supervised release and up to a $1,000 fine as to Count 1, and a maximum statutory sentence of 5 years in prison, up to 3 years of supervised release and up to a $250,000 fine as to Count 2.

According to the trial record, Zhang fraudulently gained entry onto the restricted grounds at the Mar-a-Lago Club where the U.S. President and other persons protected by the U.S. Secret Service were temporarily visiting.  U.S. Secret Service agents detained Zhang at the main reception area due to her suspicious actions. Zhang was then escorted off the property for further questioning. During questioning, Zhang repeatedly misrepresented to U.S. Secret Service agents that she was at the Mar-a-Lago Club to attend a “United Nations Friendship Event.”

U.S. Attorney Fajardo Orshan commended the investigative efforts of the USSS’s Miami Field Office, and the FBI’s Miami Field Office in this matter.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rolando Garcia and Michael Sherwin.