Naperville Man Lied About Chinese Communist Party Membership

A Naperville man is facing up to five years in prison for lying about being a member of the Chinese Communist Party.

Lu Lin, 59, pleaded guilty in federal court to making a false statement to an immigration officer. In court Tuesday, he admitted that he “willingly failed to disclose his prior membership in the Chinese Communist Party,” according to a news release from the Northern District of Illinois U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to the plea agreement, Lin is a citizen of the People’s Republic of China who reported on his application for naturalized United States citizenship that he had never used other names and had never been a member of the Chinese Communist Party, the release said.

Lin made the same assertions while under oath in an interview with officials in the Chicago office of the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the plea agreement states, according to the release.

In reality, Lin had been a member of the Chinese Communist Party from 1987 to 1997, and had received an identification document identifying him as “Yeung Yung.” Lin admitted in the plea agreement that he made the misrepresentations so he would be granted U.S. citizenship. He further acknowledged that his misrepresentations were material to the United States’ subsequent decision to grant him citizenship.

Lin faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Nov. 9.