Irvine lawyer sentenced for helping birth-tourism witness flee

An Irvine lawyer has been sentenced to nearly two years in federal prison for helping a Chinese witness in a federal probe into so-called birth tourism flee the United States.

Federal prosecutors said Ken Liang received a 21-month sentence Monday for conspiring to obstruct justice, obstructing justice and tampering with a witness.

He also was fined $1,000.

Authorities said Liang took $6,000 to help a court-designated witness leave for China without being detected by federal authorities.

The witness was designated in an ongoing federal probe of a business that authorities say helped pregnant Chinese women travel to California to give birth to American citizens.

No charges have been filed against the business.