LOS ANGELES — Jeffrey Ying, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of stealing a 17th-century manuscript from China's Qing dynasty. On July 9, 2026, he was sentenced to time served, approximately one month in jail, along with one year of home confinement and three years of supervised release.

Ying, who is from Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area, was accused of stealing approximately $216,000 worth of rare Chinese manuscripts from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Library between December 2024 and July 2025. Prosecutors stated that he rented pieces of ancient literature and returned counterfeit duplicates to the library. The literature included Chinese works dated to 1393 and another published in 1575.

The UCLA Library uncovered the activity when several recently returned pieces were found to be fakes. An investigation identified that documents were checked out using aliases later determined to be Ying's: Jason Wang, Alan Fujimori, and Austin Chen. Surveillance footage indicated that the same individual checked out the missing documents.

Authorities searched Ying's hotel room near UCLA, where they found blank manuscripts and paperwork styled after the books he had checked out. An arrest affidavit stated these items were used to create "dummy" books to substitute for the originals. At the time of his arrest in August 2025, authorities found a fraudulent California identification card in the name of Austin Chen, alongside two library cards in the names of Austin Chen and Jason Wang. Prosecutors also stated that Ying traveled to and from China within days of the thefts.

No fine was issued during the sentencing for Ying. Restitution for his actions is pending determination. Until recently, UCLA allowed members of the public to apply for a library card online without needing to present government-issued identification.