(CNN) A former employee of a Chinese airline at two of the main airports serving New York has pleaded guilty to felony charges stemming from the illegal shipment of packages on behalf of China's military, the US Justice Department said Wednesday.

Ying Lin is a naturalized US citizen originally from China. She took packages from Chinese military officers assigned to China's United Nations mission in New York and put them on flights headed to China without the officers on board -- a violation of US air safety rules -- prosecutors allege.

In return, Lin received benefits including tax-exempt purchases of liquor, cigarettes and electronic devices, perks which US authorities said were "worth tens of thousands of dollars."

Chinese construction workers, who were only allowed to operate at Chinese government facilities under the terms of their visas, also did free work at Lin's two residences in the borough of Queens, according to the Justice Department.

"Covertly doing the Chinese military's bidding on US soil is a crime, and Lin and the Chinese military took advantage of a commercial enterprise to evade legitimate US government oversight," John C. Demers, the US assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement.

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