U.S. authorities had sought a more than five-year prison term for Michael Wei Yueh Liu, 59, who was convicted in September of conspiracy and money laundering for running a company known as USA Happy Baby. Phoebe Dong, Liu's wife - though the couple have since separated - was also convicted in connection with the scheme and is expected to be sentenced early next year.
After receiving a 41-month sentence, Liu was led out of the courtroom by authorities and taken into custody. He gave his attorney his belt and a folder and held Dong's hand briefly while she sobbed.
In court, Liu had pleaded for leniency to care for his elderly parents and 13-year-old son, all of whom depend on him, while about a dozen supporters, many from his church, attended to provide moral support. Liu said his family has suffered deeply for nearly a decade since a 2015 raid on his business.
"My intent was always to uphold the values of integrity and responsibility, so I regret any actions or decisions that may have brought us to this moment of judgment," Liu told the court during his sentencing hearing. "I have tried my best to remain a source of stability for my family, but my incarceration will place them in a more vulnerable position."
"I am not here to deflect responsibility, but to seek mercy," he said.
U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner said defendants' family members are often the ones who suffer, but it is the defendant's actions, not the court's, that caused the harm. Nevertheless, Klausner said he was reducing the sentence due to Liu's family situation.
"These are choices you make, not that the court makes," Klausner said.
U.S. authorities said USA Happy Baby helped several hundred women travel from China to give birth to U.S.-citizen babies between 2012 and 2015. The tourists paid as much as $40,000 for services including apartment rentals during their stays in Southern California and worked with overseas entities that coached women on what to say during visa interviews and upon arriving in U.S. airports, advising them to wear loose clothing to hide their pregnancies.
"For tens of thousands of dollars each, defendant helped his numerous customers deceive U.S. authorities and buy U.S. citizenship for their children," federal prosecutors wrote in court papers. "This criminal conduct is serious and requires a meaningful sentence to promote respect for the law and hold defendant accountable."
Prosecutors declined to comment immediately after the sentencing.
Kevin Cole, Liu's attorney, had asked that his client face no more than 26 months and requested he be allowed to serve his sentence from home. On Monday, Cole asked the judge to consider his client's critical role as the caretaker for his 95-year-old father and 82-year-old mother, shuttling them to medical appointments, bathing them and cooking their food, and his otherwise upstanding life growing up in Taiwan - serving in its military, and attending to his family.
"He's somebody that has lived an honorable life," Cole told the court. "There'd be no benefit to him or the public for an extensive prison sentence in this case."
The case against Liu and Dong dates back years. Federal authorities searched more than a dozen homes across Southern California in a 2015 crackdown on operators of businesses catering to Chinese women seeking to deliver their babies in the United States and four years later charged the pair and more than a dozen others, including a woman who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 months in prison for running a company known as You Win USA.
Such businesses have long operated in California and other states and have catered to people not only from China, but also from Russia, Nigeria and elsewhere. It isn't illegal to visit the United States while pregnant, but lying to U.S. consular and immigration officials about the reasons for travel on government documents is not permitted.
The key draw for travelers has been that the United States has birthright citizenship, which many believe could help their children secure a U.S. college education and provide a sort of future insurance policy - especially since the tourists themselves can apply for permanent residency once their American child turns 21.
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to end birthright citizenship once in office, but any such effort would face steep legal hurdles.