NEW YORK (AP) — A judge on Monday declared a mistrial in the corruption case of a former New York governor’s aide after jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked on charges she sold influence to China and profited from a medical equipment program during the pandemic.
A federal jury in Brooklyn failed to reach a unanimous verdict in the case against Linda Sun and her husband, Chris Hu. The chief said the panel was deadlocked on all 19 counts.
“Your Honor, after extensive deliberation and deliberation, the jury remains unable to reach a unanimous verdict. The jurors remain unwavering in their position,” the jury said in a note to U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan shortly after deliberations resumed Monday, with an alternate juror replacing jurors who had to leave due to previous travel commitments.
Prosecutor Alexander Solomon told the judge the government hopes to reopen the case “as soon as possible.”
Sun is accused of using her position in state government to subtly advance Beijing’s agenda in exchange for financial benefits worth millions of dollars. They said Sun also received kickbacks from Chinese companies to secure lucrative state contracts for masks and other critical medical supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The case and the nearly month-long trial are part of a broader Justice Department effort to root out agents in the United States who work covertly for the Chinese government as it seeks to influence American politics and harass and threaten dissidents abroad.
Sun was charged with serving as an unregistered Chinese agent, visa fraud, money laundering and other crimes. Hu was charged with money laundering, bank fraud and tax evasion. They are jointly charged with wire fraud, bribery and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Sun, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in China, held multiple positions during a roughly 15-year career in state government, including serving as deputy chief of staff to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and deputy diversity officer to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, both Democrats.
Hochul was fired in 2023 after her government said it discovered wrongdoing.
During the trial, prosecutors said Sun took steps to align the state’s message with Chinese government priorities. They said emails and phone messages showed how she blocked representatives of Taiwan’s government, whose sovereignty China does not recognize, from interacting with the governor’s office.
At one point, Sun even turned down an invitation from Cuomo to meet with the Taiwanese president during his visit to the United States.
Prosecutors said she also pushed to remove references to Uighurs, a persecuted Muslim minority in China, from official statements. They said Sun forged Hochul’s signature on official letters so that Chinese officials could obtain visas to enter the country.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Solomon said in closing arguments that Sun “repeatedly bragged to her superiors in the Chinese government what an asset she was.”
In return, she received millions of dollars in financial benefits, including helping her husband turn a fledgling business exporting American lobsters to China into a lucrative enterprise.
Prosecutors said the couple also took steps to hide their ill-gotten gains, using cash withdrawals, shell companies and a system of payments through third parties and relatives – all listed in detailed spreadsheets kept by Hu.
The sudden wealth allowed the couple to live a life of luxury, buying a multimillion-dollar home on Long Island, a $1.9 million condo in Hawaii, a new Ferrari and other luxury cars, they said. Sun and Hu also enjoyed other benefits, including Nanjing-style salted duck prepared by a Chinese official’s personal chef, prosecutors said.
“Linda Sun betrayed the state of New York for her own gain,” Solomon said. “What you see time and time again is a clear pattern of corruption.”
Sun’s attorneys, however, portrayed her as a “proud American” and a loyal public servant who was simply fulfilling her duties as the governor’s liaison to the Asian American community.
In his closing remarks, Kenneth Abel acknowledged that Sun carefully cultivated official relationships with Chinese consulate officials. But he also pointed to other examples of Sun meeting local Taiwanese communities and even being respected by them.
He argued that Sun Yat-sen’s decision to decline an invitation to meet the president of Taiwan was consistent with past practice: the New York governor had never met the president of Taiwan.
“She was just careful,” Abel said. “She is not suitable for pursuing Taiwan policy.”
He added that prosecutors had not provided any evidence that Sun forged Hochul’s signature on Chinese officials’ visa documents.
He also questioned why Chinese companies even needed to pay bribes to win state contracts during the epidemic. After all, New York and other states spent freely and quickly as they stockpiled critical medical supplies, Abel argued.
“There are big holes in this story,” he said. “The government is working hard to incorporate facts into its narrative.”
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