ARCADIA, Calif. – The mayor of Arcadia, California, resigned Monday after federal prosecutors charged her with acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government. Prosecutors said she agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge that could carry up to 10 years in federal prison.

Eileen Wang, 58, was charged in federal court with acting in the United States as an illegal agent of a foreign government, the Justice Department said. Prosecutors said Wang and Yaoning “Mike” Sun, 65, of Chino Hills, worked from late 2020 through 2022 at the direction and control of the Chinese government to promote Beijing’s interests in the United States.

The case centers in part on U.S. News Center, a website prosecutors said claimed to serve the local Chinese-American community while being used to spread pro-China government propaganda. The Justice Department said Wang has agreed to pead guilty.

Prosecutors said Wang and Sun helped promote material tied to China’s denial of human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Wang’s plea agreement said the activity took place before she took office as mayor and that no city resources were involved.

Sun, who the Justice Department described as Wang’s former fiancé and campaign treasurer, is serving a four-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty in October 2025 to acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government.

The city of Arcadia said Wang resigned from the City Council effective May 11, vacating the mayor’s seat. The city said the council will choose a new mayor and mayor pro tem at its next meeting, and discuss how District 3 will be represented until the election cycle in November.

Wang is expected to make an appearance in federal court in downtown Los Angeles and formally plead guilty in the coming weeks, the Justice Department said.