China Deports Houston Woman Convicted In Spying Case: Update

Updated on April 29: Sandy Phan-Gillis, the Houston woman who was convicted of spying by a judge in China earlier this month, was deported by authorities and landed in Los Angeles on Friday, according to media reports.

The New York Times reported that Jeff Gillis, Phan-Gillis' husband, confirmed in an email that his wife had been released.

“Many of Sandy’s friends and family members have been crying tears of joy throughout the day,” Mr. Gillis said the an email. Gillis denied that Phan-Gillis spied for America.

“Sandy was not allowed to speak with her lawyers for well over a year,” Mr. Gillis wrote. “China State Security used torture to force Sandy to make a false confession."

Sen. Ted Cruz issued the following statement on Phan-Gillis' release:

“For two years, one month, and nine days, Sandy was unjustly separated from her family and detained in China on baseless charges. Today, she is released and free again. This is a day of great celebration for her family and all Texans. I applaud the State Department and thank President Trump for his leadership in securing Sandy's release.

“It should be noted that Sandy's purpose in visiting China two years ago was to strengthen commercial and cultural exchanges on behalf of the city of Houston. The Chinese government - cynically and to the astonishment of many - perceived this cultural bridge-builder as a threat. Sandy was unjustly deprived of her liberty for two years, time during which she was denied basic legal protections and her loved ones lacked accurate information about her condition.

“I pray that the days ahead for Sandy and her family will be full of redeemed time and precious reunions. As a community leader in Houston for decades, Sandy returns to a town grateful for her safety, and I thank God she is home again. ”

HOUSTON, TX — She's been labeled a spy and held by Chinese authorities for two years, and on Tuesday, Houston businesswoman Sandy Phan-Gillis was sentenced to three and a half years in prison by a judge in southern China.

Phan-Gillis, 57, was accompanying Houston officials on a routine trip to China when she was detained by authorities on suspicion of spying. She was sentenced in a secret trial in Nanning, the capital of the Guangxi region in southern China, as reported by The New York Times.

Phan-Gillis' attorney, Shang Baojun, told the Times that the charges against his client allegedly occurred more than 20 years ago. The judge ordered that Phan-Gillis be deported from China, but did not stipulate if she would be forced to serve her entire sentence.

"A court can order expulsion from the country for foreign nationals either after serving a sentence or concurrent with a sentence starting, but the judge wasn’t clear on which applied here, so I also have to wait to read the verdict," Shang told the Times via telephone. "Of course, I hope that they’ll deport her as soon as possible, but we have to wait until we see the written verdict to be sure."

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As reported by the Houston Chronicle, Phan-Gillis had led many delegations to China and founded Houston's Chinese New Year festival. She was born in Vietnam into an ethnic Chinese family, and settled in the U.S. after fleeing Vietnam by boat. She has worked as a consultant to Houston firms seeking to do business in China, and has represented Chinese companies doing business in Texas.

According to the Times, calls to the Nanning Intermediate People's Court were not answered, and Phan-Gillis' trial was not covered in Chinese media. In addition, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not responds to questions from the Times about her case.

Phan-Gillis was detained in March 2015 near a border crossing, and Chinese officials said that, in addition to spying, she had tried to recruit Chinese people living in the U.S. to work for a "foreign spy organization."

Phan-Gillis at first denied the allegations, but during her trial pleaded guilty to the charges, Shang, her attorney, said.

"After the verdict was read out, the chief judge didn’t ask her whether she’d appeal," Mr. Shang said. "But when I met her yesterday and previously and asked her, she said she wouldn’t appeal, as long as she could leave China as soon as possible."

— Image: change.org