Exiled Chinese spiritual leader pleads no contest to misdemeanor

PASADENA, Calif. - The founder of an outlawed Chinese spiritual movement pleaded no contest to a charge of hitting his former housekeeper, avoiding deportation or jail time.

Hongbao Zhang, 52, exiled founder of the Zhong Gong movement, entered the plea Tuesday to a misdemeanor count of battery, said defense attorney Mark Geragos.

He agreed to pay a $1,000 fine and received credit for a day spent in the Los Angeles County jail, said district attorney’s spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.

“We felt this was an appropriate outcome,” she said.

In addition, a Superior Court judge granted restraining orders that bar Hongbao from coming near his housekeeper and four other people for 10 years.

Zhong Gong is a dissident, spiritual wellness movement that has an estimated 30 million followers.

Hongbao entered the Unites States illegally through Guam in 2000 and was detained for 13 months before he was granted asylum.

In the criminal case he originally was charged with five felony counts, including kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon, for allegedly attacking his housekeeper at his Pasadena home in 2003.

If convicted of those crimes, he could have faced deportation to China, where he is accused of rape, murder and terrorism.

Hongbao was “ecstatic” at the case’s outcome, Geragos said.

“We went from life in prison for kidnapping and beating to misdemeanor battery,” he said, and called the housekeeper’s testimony “not credible.”

In court, housekeeper Nan Fang He testified through a Chinese interpreter.

The housekeeper said Hongbao knocked her down, choked her and covered her mouth, telling her: “If you cry again, I will choke you to death.”

The housekeeper and her family have sued Hongbao for $97,000 in damages.

After the ruling, the housekeeper said through an interpreter that she approved of the restraining orders but felt that Hongbao had gotten off easily.

“It was too light,” she said. “I think he should do jail time.”

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