Zhai Tiantian, a one-time doctoral student at the New Jersey-based Stevens Institute of Technology, was charged with making a "terroristic threat" for allegedly making a call threatening to burn down the school building.
The prosecutor has given him the opportunity to plead guilty to a lesser charge of "disorderly
persons", which, while not a criminal offense, could still see him face up to six months in jail.
Zhai, from Xi'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi province, was pursuing his doctoral degree at the
Stevens Institute of Technology when the school suspended him on March 11. School officials
described the suspension as a result of Zhai's major violations of the student code of conduct. But
the school did not give details of the violations, citing privacy for students.
Zhai was arrested in mid-April after the school reported him to the police for threatening to burn
down a school building in a phone call.
In the meantime, the Department of Homeland Security might deport Zhai since his student visa
was canceled three months ago.
Zhai did receive some good news last week when the prosecutor in Manhattan revoked a harassment charge. That charge was laid in March this year when Aly Rose, the artistic director at the Tisch School of Arts in New York University, reported Zhai for harassment to the New York Police Department.
But if Zhai leaves the US voluntarily, it might mean he could never return because he will still be facing a criminal charge. Meanwhile, 26-year-old Zhai, who has received both his bachelor and Master's degrees at Stevens since he enrolled there in 2003, still hopes the court could clear his name.
He may sue the school and the prosecutor and demand compensation for what he went through. Yet Zhai still hopes to continue his doctoral studies in the US. (Source: New America Media, Aug 1, 2010).