PITTSBURGH - A Chinese national has been sentenced in federal court to one year probation with immediate deportation on his conviction of conspiracy in relation to a scheme involving the fraudulent taking of college entrance exams, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
United States District Judge Nora Barry Fischer imposed the sentence on Yudong Zhang.
According to information presented to the court, Yudong Zhang acted as a facilitator for two Chinese nationals, who were associates of his, to have the SAT and TOEFL examinations taken on their behalf by others. Using counterfeit passports that contained identifying information of Zhang’s associates and the impostors’ photographs, Zhang’s associates earned scores on three college entrance examinations which were then used by Zhang’s assoicates to earn admission to Virginia Tech University. Zhang’s associates were also able to obtain F-1 Visas to enter the United States as students on the basis of that fraudulent admission.
Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Conti stated that her sentence reflected the seriousness of the offense in that it allowed people who otherwise would not have been eligible to enter the U.S. to enter and also brought unfairness to the American education system.
Assistant United States Attorney James T. Kitchen prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
U.S. Attorney Hickton commended the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations and the Department of State for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Zhang.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
