An American businesswoman was sentenced for roughly four years in jail and deportation. Apparently, the Chinese court found her guilty of spying.

In March 2015, a Houston resident Sandy Phan-Gillis was arrested with officials from Texas while on a business trip. Shang Boujon, the convict's lawyer, said she was charged guilty to espionage. The court hearing took place in Nanning, a southern city in China. However, the length of her stay in Chinese detention is still unknown prior to her deportation.

Prior to being charged, Sandy's husband Jeff Gillis insisted that she was innocent. However, he kept quiet at first, thinking that his wife's case will not push through as the charges were unsupported.

However, after realizing that the Chinese government would not back down, he continued fighting for Sandy's freedom. He has even campaigned for her release, saying that she's in the US in 1990, the time when she was accused of spying the American government based in China. However, the businesswoman has secured an earlier release, as CNN reported, by pleading guilty.

"She's supposed to serve the sentence in China," Sandy's lawyer explained. "But maybe there's a condition based on which she can be deported to the U.S. before the imprisonment. We hope she can return to the U.S. as soon as possible."

The lawyer, Shang, has kept his mouth shut from revealing further details sans official's consent as it involves the national security. On the other hand, China has kept the details of the allegations against Sandy in private. However, it was said that the accusations involved Sandy doing harmful activities to the national security of China.

Meanwhile, the case of the American entrepreneur was repeatedly raised by the U.S. State Department in China. However, the U.S. government located in Guangzhou has not responded about the issue.