The disgraced ex-mayor of a wealthy Southern California city has admitted to secretly acting as an agent for the Chinese government.

Eileen Wang, 58, pled guilty on Friday to a felony charge of acting as an illegal foreign agent for the People's Republic of China.

The crime carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

Wang stepped down from her role as Arcadia mayor and resigned from the city council after the felony charges against her were announced on May 11.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Wang spent years working under the direction of Chinese government officials before rising into elected office in Los Angeles County. 

They also claimed she used a Chinese-language news website to distribute propaganda favorable to Beijing while secretly coordinating with officials tied to the Chinese Communist Party.

Authorities have described the website as a fake news platform targeting Chinese Americans.

Wang has also communicated with John Chen, who also pleaded guilty to being an agent for the Chinese government and was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

The 58-year-old was elected to the Arcadia City Council in November 2022 and later elevated to mayor through the city's rotating leadership system.

But according to the Department of Justice, Wang's ties to Chinese officials stretched back well before she ever took office.

Federal authorities said that from late 2020 through 2022, Wang worked alongside her then-fiancé, Yaoning 'Mike' Sun, under the 'direction and control' of officials tied to the Chinese government.

Together the pair operated a website called US News Center, which presented itself as a legitimate Chinese-American news outlet while allegedly serving as a propaganda vehicle for Beijing.

According to court filings, Chinese officials sent Wang articles and directives through the encrypted messaging app WeChat, instructing her and others to publish content favorable to the Chinese Communist Party. 

In one instance in June 2021, a government official sent Wang a pre-written article titled 'China's Stance on the Xinjiang Issue.'

The piece refuted reports of the persecution, forced labor, and abuse of Uyghers in China's Xinjiang province, stating, 'There has never been genocide in Xinjiang or forced labor in the region´s cotton fields or any other sector.'

Within minutes, Wang shared the article on her news site. She then sent the official a link proving it had been published.

'So fast, thank you everyone,' the official allegedly responded.

The US and several other countries have declared that Beijing's policies against the Uyghurs amounted to genocide and crimes against humanity.

The case against Wang also triggered intense scrutiny of her carefully crafted public image.

Campaign photos and promotional images used during her political rise depicted Wang in heavily polished and retouched portraits that projected a glamorous and approachable persona to voters.

But unedited public images revealed a stark contrast to the stylized campaign photographs that once appeared across city political materials and social media.

Wang's attorneys, in a statement released earlier this month, said that she recognizes the seriousness of the spying charge and accepts responsibility for 'past personal mistakes.'

'She apologizes and is sorry for the mistakes she has made in her personal life,' the statement said. 

'Her love and devotion for the Arcadia community have not changed and did not waver.'

Her lawyers also addressed her relationship with Sun, which they said ended in Spring 2024. The statement references 'her trust and love for apparently the wrong person who ultimately led her astray.'

Sun is currently serving a four-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to the same charge last October. He was also listed in campaign filings as the treasurer for Wang's 2022 election campaign.