Feds: Toss indictment against NYPD cop accused of being China agent

Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have asked a judge to dismiss an indictment against an NYPD officer accused of serving as an agent for China.

Baimadajie Angwang, a naturalized U.S. citizen and a native of Tibet who resided in Williston Park before his arrest, was charged in September 2020 with four felonies: acting as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. government, wire fraud, making false statements, and obstruction of an official proceeding. 

“As a result of our continuing investigation, the government obtained additional information bearing on the charges,” prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District wrote to U.S. District Judge Eric R. Komitee in papers filed Friday. “Having assessed the evidence as a whole in light of that information … the government moves, in the interests of justice, to dismiss the indictment without prejudice.”

The court papers offered no specifics and a spokesman for Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, declined to comment Sunday. Angwang’s lawyer, John Carman of Garden City, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Prosecutors alleged Angwang had informed the Chinese government about the activities of Tibetans who opposed China’s policies and actions in Tibet, or who might be potential recruits for Beijing. 

Carman has said his client was only providing publicly available information in order to get better visa terms for himself and other Tibetan nationals.

Angwang faced decades in prison if convicted on the charges. The feds offered Angwang a plea deal in January 2021 that would have carried a sentence with a wide possible range of imprisonment, from time served to as much as 10 years in prison. He would have had to plead guilty to a single count of violating the foreign agents registration act, prosecutors said during a Jan. 6, 2021, telephone status conference. 

During that status conference, Carman said living conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Angwang was being held, were so restricted due to COVID-19 rules that attorneys could not adequately discuss their cases with clients. 

“While it levels criticism of China for its human rights violations, the United States' treatment of this Marine Corps veteran, who is presumed innocent, borders on sadistic,” Carman said after the court appearance. 

Angwang was released from the MDC the following month on $2 million bond after contracting COVID-19. 

Angwang, who worked at the 111th Precinct in Bayside, Queens, was suspended at the time he was indicted. His status with the department was not clear Sunday. NYPD representatives did not respond to a request for clarification.