Jimmy Kuang Zui Meng (, born 1944) is a Chinese-Taiwanese

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former politician, who served as a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

. A Democrat, Meng represented the 22nd Assembly District in

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from 2005 to 2006. He is the first

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

to have served in the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the Bicameralism, two houses that act as the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York: the New York State Senate and the New York State Assem ...

. Meng pleaded guilty to wire fraud in 2013.

Background and family

Meng's ancestral home was in Shandong Province, China. His father moved to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

due to the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

's takeover of mainland China. After moving to the United States from Taiwan in 1975, Meng began a successful timber business. Following years of business activity, he became the president of the Flushing Chinese Business Association (FCBA). Meng is the father of U.S. Representative

Grace Meng Grace Meng (Chinese: 孟昭文; born October 1, 1975) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 6th congressional district since 2013. Her district is situated within the New York City borough of Q ...

Political career

Meng ran for New York State Assembly in 2002 in the 22nd Assembly District in Flushing, but was defeated by Barry Grodenchik. In 2004, Meng ran for Assembly again. This time, he ousted Grodenchik in the Democratic primary. Running on the Democratic,

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, and

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lines, Meng defeated Republican candidate Meilin Tan, Grodenchik (running on the

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line), and

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candidate Evergreen Chou in the general election. Meng served in the Assembly in 2005 and 2006. He stated that he would not seek re-election in 2006 due to health concerns. He expressed a desire for more Asian Americans and other minorities to run for office. Meng was succeeded by another Asian American, Ellen Young. In turn, Young lost the September 9, 2008 Democratic primary to Jimmy Meng's daughter, Grace Meng. Grace Meng won the 2008 general election in Assembly District 22 and went on to become a member of Congress.

Prosecution and guilty plea

Meng was arrested on federal charges on July 25, 2012. On November 14, 2012, he pleaded guilty to wire fraud for soliciting an $80,000 cash bribe (concealed in a

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) and falsely stating that he would use the funds to bribe Manhattan prosecutors to obtain a reduced sentence for a defendant. The government found no evidence that Meng contacted anyone in the District Attorney's Office on behalf of the defendant; rather, investigators concluded that Meng intended to keep the $80,000 for himself. On March 12, 2013, Meng was sentenced to a month in jail, a fine of $30,000, three months of house arrest, and 750 hours of community service for his role in the bribery scheme.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meng, Jimmy 1944 births Living people American politicians of Taiwanese descent American politicians of Chinese descent Asian-American state legislators in New York (state) Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Politicians from Queens, New York Taiwanese people from Shandong Chinese Civil War refugees Politicians from Shandong Taiwanese emigrants to the United States 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature 21st-century American politicians of Asian descent