PALM BEACH, Fla. — A man has pleaded guilty to illegally gaining access to President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort on Palm Beach while the commander-in-chief was staying there.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Mark Slattery Lindblom entered the grounds of Mar-a-Lago on or about Nov. 23, 2018.
On Tuesday, Lindblom pleaded guilty to one count of entering or remaining in a restricted building or grounds, and was sentenced to one year of probation.
According to The Palm Beach Post, Lindblom is a freshman at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and managed to slip past security through an underground tunnel during the Thanksgiving holiday while President Trump was staying at Mar-a-Lago.
Court records list Lindblom's attorney as Marcos Beaton, Jr. WPTV reached out to him, but we haven't heard back.
The intrusion came several months before a Chinese woman gained illegal entry to Mar-a-Lago, according to prosecutors.
33-year-old Yujing Zhang pleaded not guilty to charges of entering restricted property and lying to a federal agent.At a hearing last week, Zhang told U.S. District Judge Roy Altman she wants to represent herself at trial.
Investigators said Zhang gained admission into Mar-a-Lago on March 30 by falsely telling security she was a member of the private club and was going to swim. She also told a front desk clerk she was there for a nonexistent Chinese/American event, the Secret Service said.
Zhang was arrested after agents said they found her carrying four cell phones, an external hard drive, and a thumb drive thought to have had malware installed on it. It was later determined there was no malware on the thumb drive, prosecutors said.
Federal prosecutor Rolando Garcia said agents found a device in Zhang's hotel room that could detect hidden cameras. They also found $8,000 in U.S. and Chinese currency, nine USB drives, five USB cards, and several credit cards in her name, according to Garcia.
Prosecutors said Zhang has no ties to South Florida, and it's unclear what her motive was.
This is a developing story. Stay with WPTV for updates.
