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Convicted Mar-a-Lago intruder Yujing Zhang files petition of habeas corpus

Chinese woman still in custody, year after sentence finished
Yujing Zhang
Posted at 4:14 PM, Jan 05, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-05 16:14:46-05

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Yujing Zhang, the 34-year old Chinese woman convicted of trespassing at Mar-a-Lago, is still in custody over a year after finishing her sentence.

A hand-written court filing appears to indicate Zhang wants to know why.

In November 2020, Zhang filed a petition for habeas corpus and filed an amended petition just before Christmas.

Zhang writes in the petition that she has been in custody "for one year without normal connection with my family & without stable income, and unknown when I am going to be released."

WPTV NewsChannel 5 was first to report on Zhang's charges. She was ultimately convicted and sentenced to eight months with time served.

Her filing notes she is "in custody at Glades County Jail," where she's been since December 2019. Federal records indicate Zhang is in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at the Glades County Detention Center.

"I need an attorney since I'm in jail and attorney may help me get out of the jail," Zhang writes.

RELATED: Hundreds of jail phone calls released in Yujing Zhang case

Zhang also claims she's lost contact with her family.

"It violates a person's basic rights by being in custody a year without being able to make phone calls to my family," she says in the court filing.

Zhang goes on to write, "the fact is I have lost contact with my parent [sic] the whole year."

A judge has yet to rule on her petition.

Read the filing here:

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