He is the owner of a popular Asian restaurant in Somerset County, known to locals by his catchy nickname, Sushi John.

But to federal immigration authorities, he was a self-confessed agent of the Chinese government.

Last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 61-year-old Ming Xi Zhang, the proprietor of Ya Ya Noodles in Montgomery Township, and he remains in ICE custody pending immigration proceedings.

In announcing Zhang’s detention, ICE cited his guilty plea four years ago to a federal charge of acting as an unregistered foreign agent of China, for which he remains on probation.