Man Sentenced for Stealing UCLA Manuscripts

Jeffrey Ying, a 39-year-old man from Fremont, California, was sentenced on July 8 to 12 months and one day in federal prison for stealing rare and historical Chinese manuscripts from the UCLA library system, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Prosecutors said Ying admitted that from December 2024 to July 2025 he checked out rare manuscripts, took them home, and returned dummy versions instead of the originals. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter in Los Angeles. Restitution will be determined later. The Justice Department said Ying pleaded guilty in October 2025 to one count of theft of major artwork. The felony count tied to his plea involved a 17th-century manuscript dating to China’s Qing dynasty. Prosecutors said Ying used the aliases “Jason Wang,” “Alan Fujimori,” and “Austin Chen” as part of the scheme. (justice.gov) ### How did prosecutors say the thefts worked? Federal prosecutors said Ying rented the manuscripts from UCLA, kept them for several days, and then returned dummy manuscripts in place of the authentic items. The Justice Department said he typically traveled to and from China within days of the thefts. (justice.gov) Court filings cited in local coverage said the broader thefts involved rare books and manuscripts worth nearly $216,000. The Justice Department’s charging announcement last year said the manuscripts were taken from a university library system in Los Angeles and that the items were rare enough that they were not kept in regular circulation. (justice.gov) ### Why did UCLA staff realize something was wrong? UCLA’s library system discovered that several rare Chinese manuscripts were missing, the Justice Department said. An initial investigation found that the books had last been viewed by a visitor using the name “Alan Fujimori.” Because of the rarity and value of the works, the manuscripts had to be reserved and checked out rather than accessed through regular circulation, prosecutors said. (mynewsla.com) The Daily Bruin reported when Ying was arrested in August 2025 that investigators said the manuscripts had been taken from UCLA’s East Asian Library and Library Special Collections. That report, citing the affidavit, said the alleged thefts stretched back months and involved false identities used to obtain access. (justice.gov) ### What did investigators find when they searched Ying? Law enforcement officers searched a Brentwood hotel room tied to Ying and found blank manuscripts and paperwork in the style of the books he had checked out from UCLA, according to the Justice Department. Prosecutors said officers also found pre-made labels, or asset tags, associated with the same manuscripts, which could be used to create dummy books for return to the library. (dailybruin.com) At Ying’s arrest in August 2025, investigators found a fraudulent California identification card in the name “Austin Chen,” along with two library cards bearing the names “Austin Chen” and “Jason Wang,” the Justice Department said. ### Was he convicted over all of the missing manuscripts? The Justice Department said Ying pleaded guilty to one count of theft of major artwork, and that count related specifically to the December 2024 theft of a 17th-century Qing dynasty manuscript. (justice.gov) Prosecutors nevertheless said in court filings that the larger pattern ran from December 2024 to July 2025 and involved multiple rare Chinese manuscripts. The charging law carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison, according to the original 2025 complaint announcement. Judge Walter imposed a sentence of 12 months and one day. ### What happens next in the case? Restitution in the case will be determined at a later date, the U.S. (justice.gov) Attorney’s Office said on July 8. The FBI’s Art Crime Team investigated the case with assistance from the UCLA Police Department, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark A. Williams and Dennis Mitchell prosecuted it. (justice.gov)