Sandy Phan-Gillis is back on U. S. soil after more than two years in prison After more than two years spent imprisoned in southern China on spying charges, American Sandy Phan-Gillis finally returned to U. S. soil Friday, reuniting with her husband…
After more than two years spent imprisoned in southern China on spying charges, American Sandy Phan-Gillis finally returned to U. S. soil Friday, reuniting with her husband and family in Los Angeles. In a few days, they will head home to Houston.
“Sandy is overjoyed to be reunited with friends and family and sends out her thanks to the many people who worked tirelessly for her release, ” her husband, Jeff Gillis, said in a statement. “Many of Sandy’s friends and family members have been crying tears of joy throughout the day.”
Last Tuesday, a judge sentenced Phan-Gillis to three and a half years in prison, followed by deportation. Because Phan-Gillis had already served more than half her sentence—during which she was tortured and kept in solitary confinement—Chinese authorities gave her parole and deported her on April 28.
Officials arrested Phan-Gillis during a 2015 trade mission to Shenzhen with then-Houston Mayor Pro-Tem Ed Gonzalez. For more than a year, the Chinese government would not allow her to speak with a lawyer and did not charge her with a crime, leading the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to rule her detention violated international law.
