2 Smugglers of Chinese Aliens Get 18 Months

The leader of a Chinese alien-smuggling ring and his cousin were sentenced Wednesday in Los Angeles federal court to 18 months in prison for their part in a scheme that brought hundreds of illegal Asian aliens into this country by way of Mexico and Central America.

Gene Chien-Jen Lee, 54, and Peter Gang-Wei Ferng, 40, both citizens of Taiwan, were accused by authorities of charging as much as $8,000 a person to bring aliens from Asia into the United States.

U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service agents broke up the ring last May after a student pilot, Larry Bowman, told the INS he was approached about illegally flying aliens--recently arrived from Taiwan and Hong Kong--into the country from Mexico.

James Chen-Chun Lee, 40, and his wife, Katherine, 41, were sentenced to prison for one year and 90 days, respectively, for their roles in the plot. A fifth person, Nelson Li-Sheng Fu, 40, did not receive a jail term but was expected to be deported to Taiwan.

Chien-Jen Lee denied many of the assertions made by federal prosecutors, contending that he was not the ringleader.