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A 27-year-old Chinese national faces a maximum 15 years in prison for smuggling Chinese aliens into the United States. Chinese man guilty
of alien smugglingStar-Bulletin staff
A federal jury on Thursday convicted Shi Jie Pan of conspiracy and six counts of smuggling. Pan was a radio operator on board the Yu Zhing No. 2, a Chinese coastal freighter rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard last August.
He will be sentenced Nov. 6 before U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra.
The boat had left China for the United States about July 4, 1999, with about 120 passengers on board and had been at sea for three weeks when a propeller shaft broke.
The passengers were notified that another ship would pick them up, but the Coast Guard intercepted the rescue vessel. After waiting two more weeks, the Yu Zhing No. 2 sent out a distress call claiming to be a disabled fishing vessel with 15 people aboard.
Most of the 120 people on board were in the hold of the boat when the Coast Guard arrived.
Pan claimed to be a passenger but other passengers disputed his claims, saying he directed them to the hold when they boarded, notified them of the broken propeller and told them they would be rescued. Another passenger testified that Pan and the boat's "chief enforcer" had beaten him because he was worried about a typhoon.
Captain Fei Wu Song, first mate Wen Liang Chen and chief enforcer Quin Chen previously pleaded guilty.