Fremont Man Sentenced For Manuscript Theft

Jeffrey Ying, a 39-year-old Fremont man, was sentenced on July 8 to 12 months and a day in federal prison for stealing rare and historical Chinese manuscripts from UCLA’s library system, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said. U.S. District Judge John F. Walter imposed the sentence in Los Angeles, and restitution will be determined later, prosecutors said. Ying had pleaded guilty in October 2025 to one count of theft of major artwork. Prosecutors said the case centered on manuscripts taken from December 2024 through July 2025. ### How did prosecutors say the theft worked? Prosecutors said Ying rented the manuscripts from the university library, took them home for days at a time, and then returned dummy manuscripts instead of the originals. At his guilty plea hearing, he admitted to that conduct, according to the Justice Department. The August 2025 criminal complaint said Ying typically traveled to and from China within several days of the thefts. (justice.gov) The same filing said the alleged conduct spanned roughly seven months, from December 2024 to July 2025. ### Which manuscript was tied to the federal charge? The Justice Department said the felony count to which Ying pleaded guilty related to his December 2024 theft of a 17th-century manuscript from China’s Qing dynasty. (justice.gov) Prosecutors did not say in the sentencing release whether additional manuscripts have been recovered. An earlier charging release put the value of the stolen manuscripts at approximately $216,000. (justice.gov) That release described the materials as rare and historical Chinese manuscripts taken from a university library system. ### How did investigators connect Ying to the missing books? UCLA’s library system noticed that several rare Chinese manuscripts were missing, and an initial investigation found the books had last been viewed by a visitor using the name “Alan Fujimori,” prosecutors said. (justice.gov) Because of their rarity and value, the manuscripts were not in regular circulation and had to be reserved and checked out. (justice.gov) Law enforcement searched Ying’s Brentwood hotel room and found blank manuscripts and paperwork in the style of the books he had checked out, according to prosecutors. Investigators also found pre-made asset tags linked to the same manuscripts that could be used to create dummy books for return to the library, the Justice Department said. (justice.gov) ### What aliases and documents did authorities say he used? Authorities said Ying used the names “Jason Wang,” “Alan Fujimori,” and “Austin Chen.” When he was arrested in August 2025, law enforcement found a fraudulent California identification card in the name of Austin Chen, along with library cards in the names of Austin Chen and Jason Wang, prosecutors said. (justice.gov) The Justice Department’s charging release said Ying was in state custody when the federal complaint was announced on August 7, 2025. The release did not detail the state case. ### Which agencies handled the case, and what comes next? The FBI’s Art Crime Team investigated the case with assistance from the UCLA Police Department, according to the Justice Department. (justice.gov) Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark A. Williams and Dennis Mitchell of the Environmental Crimes and Consumer Protection Section prosecuted the case. (justice.gov) Restitution will be determined at a later date, the sentencing release said. The July 8 announcement did not give a hearing date for that decision or say whether any additional court proceedings are scheduled. (justice.gov)