A California man was sentenced after stealing an ancient Chinese manuscript in an elaborate plot that included fake names on library cards and a large amount of equipment that prosecutors say he used to create forged copies.

Jeffrey Ying, 39, was convicted of theft of important works of art and sentenced to a sentence served, which is equivalent to approximately one month in prison and one year of home confinement.

Prosecutors say he rented pieces of old literature from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) library and returned false duplicates.

Prosecutors said Ying would travel to and from China within days of the robberies.

The UCLA Library, which has an extensive collection of artwork and rare books, uncovered the plot after several recently returned pieces were found to be fakes.

An investigation found that the documents were verified using aliases later found to be those of Ying: Jason Wang, Alan Fujimori and Austin Chen.

Surveillance footage showed that the missing documents were removed by the same person.

Authorities located Ying and searched his hotel room near UCLA, where they found blank manuscripts and documentation that resembled the style of the books he had borrowed. Prosecutors said the items were used to “create ‘fictitious’ books to be returned to the library in place of the original books,” according to an arrest affidavit.

Between December 2024 and July 2025, Ying is accused of stealing rare ancient Chinese manuscripts from UCLA worth approximately $216,000 (£161,300), according to a criminal complaint.

The literature included valuable Chinese pieces dated 1393 and another published in 1575. The document does not describe what happened to these pieces or accuse Ying of the thefts.

Ying pleaded guilty to one count of theft of a 17th-century manuscript dating to China’s Qing Dynasty.

The 39-year-old man from Fremont, in the San Francisco Bay area, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release. While no fine was imposed, restitution has not yet been determined.

At the time of Ying’s arrest in August 2025, authorities found a fraudulent California identification card in the name of Austin Chen, along with two library cards in the names of Austin Chen and Jason Wang.

Officials noted that until recently, the university had allowed the public to apply for a library card, which could give access to rare materials, online without having to show any type of government-issued identification.