Linda Sun case: Federal judge sets retrial date for ex-gubernatorial aide from Manhasset charged with being an unregistered Chinese agent

Linda Sun, the former gubernatorial aide from Long Island whose Chinese spying trial ended last year with a hung jury, will be retried by federal prosecutors in 2027 if she doesn't agree to a plea deal.

During a status conference on the case Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan set a retrial date of Jan. 18, 2027, for Sun and her husband Chris Hu. Cogan noted that plea talks between the government and defense counsel for Sun and Hu are ongoing.

Sun, who worked for governors Kathy Hochul and Andrew M. Cuomo, was tried last year on charges that she acted as an unregistered agent for China, receiving millions of dollars in kickbacks and bribes by doing the bidding of the communist Chinese government.

She also faced charges of money laundering conspiracy and fraud for allegedly steering multimillion-dollar New York State contracts for personal protective equipment like face masks to a Chinese company connected to Hu at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Prosecutors said Hu laundered that money through various bank accounts and failed to report it on tax filings.

Lawyers for Sun argued she was merely doing her job in advocating for good relations between Albany and Beijing and New York State was so desperate for PPE, there was no need to offer bribes to get a contract. Hu’s lawyers said prosecutors failed to provide proof that Hu’s lobster export business got millions in contracts because of Sun’s work on behalf of Chinese officials.

The proceeding ended in a mistrial after the jury failed to come to a unanimous verdict.

Details of a potential plea agreement were not discussed at Wednesday's conference, but in a recent letter to the judge, prosecutors said they've been "engaged in good faith plea negotiations" with the defendants since the conclusion of their trial and had "extended formal plea offers to each defendant," which are set to expire on Monday.

Lawyers for Sun and Hu didn't indicate whether their clients were inclined to take the deal during the conference, but Hu attorney Nicole Boeckmann said she and lawyers for Sun might not be able to continue representing their clients because they had been unable to pay their legal fees, resulting in what Boeckmann described as an "untenable" situation.

"We certainly want to continue to advocate on behalf of Mr. Hu and Miss Sun; we're very committed to the case but we're in a position right now that's frankly untenable for both law firms to go forward," said Boeckmann. "I think we've made it abundantly clear that the defendants do not have any assets with which to pay us. ... [The trial] was a very, very expensive endeavor for the clients. We would like to remain, but absent the courts requiring the release of assets ... so we can be paid for our services, we're going to need to withdraw."

In response, Cogan said he has already ruled against an earlier defense motion seeking to compel the government to release some of what the defense said was $8 million in funds and assets seized from the pair.

"For what it's worth, my preference would be for you to stay, but my preference isn't going to cause me to order the government to release assets when I've already ruled the motion wasn't sufficient," said Cogan, who told the defense it was welcome to file another motion.

The couple purchased a $4 million home in Manhasset, a condominium in Hawaii and a luxury sports car with the illegal proceeds, prosecutors have said. Authorities seized a Rolex watch worth more than $10,000 and a pearl necklace while searching Sun’s Manhasset home and a Flushing condominium owned by Sun’s parents, Newsday has reported.

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.