‘Sickening’: Victims blast prison sentence for Queens doctor who raped patients

By Jacob Kaye

A former Queens doctor who raped at least eight women, some of whom came to him as patients, was sentenced to 24 years in prison at Queens Criminal Court on Thursday, angering a group of victims who say his sentence should keep him behind bars for life.

While the Queens district attorney praised the nearly quarter-of-a-century sentence for disgraced gastroenterologist Zhi Alan Cheng, several of the women he prayed on said prosecutors had let their abuser escape with a "sweetheart" deal that will allow him to leave prison by the time he turns 60, and that lets his former employer, NewYork-Presbyterian Queens, off the hook entirely.

“It's sickening,” said Nicholas Liakas, an attorney who is representing a number of Cheng’s victims in several different active civil lawsuits against the doctor and the hospital system he used to work for.

“This tells everyone in Queens and anyone who's listening that there's always a deal to be made in this district attorney's office, no matter how good the evidence is, no matter how dead to rights a sexual predator is,” the attorney added. “That's unacceptable.”

Cheng pleaded guilty to four counts of rape and three counts of sexual abuse in June after first being charged with over 50 sex crime charges in 2022, the year prosecutors began unraveling the scale of his abuse and arrested him. He originally faced life in prison.

The former doctor sedated and raped women both at his Astoria home and at the hospital where he was employed, and often recorded the crimes on his cell phone.

Cheng spoke briefly before being sentenced on Thursday, apologizing for his crimes and claiming that he would “spend the rest of my life atoning for them.”

Queens Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant hit Cheng with the 24 year sentence on Thursday during a tense proceeding, but noted that if it were up to her, he’d be behind bars for the next 100 years.

While the judge said she understood why the Queens DA’s office agreed to the deal – a trial would require many of the victims to testify and for videos of their sexual abuse to played in open court – she also said she had no doubt he would have been convicted at trial.

“I don't believe that 24 years is enough for the crimes that you committed,” the judge said. “[But] I understand in terms of balancing what the victims would suffer again.”

Liakas and the women he represents were less understanding.

By entering into the plea agreement, Cheng did not have to answer to a number of other videos of sexual abuse found on his phone, which the DA’s office said they had shortly after first arresting him.

Cheng’s attorney, Jeffrey Einhorn, said the former doctor told prosecutors what he knew about the videos but did not expand on whether or not he identified the additional victims. The DA’s office did not comment on the additional videos.

“We don't know who these victims are,” Liakas said. “All we do know is that there are thousands of hours of videos of Dr. Cheng and possibly others, sexually abusing, assaulting, raping women, and we have no answers.”

“There are women walking the streets of Queens right now who went to NewYork-Presbyterian as a patient and left a victim, and they will never know,” he added.

Queens assistant district attorney Brianne Richards said during the sentencing that Cheng’s case forced her to do one of the most “disturbing” things she’s done as a prosecutor – tell women that they had been raped while they were unconscious, and make them watch a video of the crime so that they could identify themselves.

“I saw the horror on their faces, the confusion, and saw their ability to trust shatter,” Richards said. “Each of them struggled to watch their bodies being violated by the defendant.”

Richards also defended the plea deal in front of the judge, and said that “any suggestion that the disposition of this case was not discussed with each survivor prior to the plea is simply false.”

But before defending the deal, Richards read a statement from one of the victims that appeared to dispute that claim.

The unnamed victim said the plea was “shocking, cruel and a gotcha surprise.”

“I believe I found out about the details of the plea at the hearing on June 30, 2025 because previous conversations with the prosecution provided misleading information about the plea details,” the victim’s statement said.

Part of Cheng’s deal involved what’s known as an “Alford plea,” which allowed him to maintain his innocence while admitting that he would likely be found guilty of the crime at trial. Liakas and his clients took particular offense to that aspect of the deal.

In a statement, Queens DA spokesperson Brendan Bosh said that “no survivor expressed concern or disappointment with the disposition, and many expressed relief at not having to endure the painful aspects of a trial.”

“While we are aware that there are lawsuits related to this case, as prosecutors our job is to achieve justice in criminal court,” he added. “Civil courts exist to address any issues that are not under our purview. The aims of an ethical, fair, and effective prosecution are to hold a defendant accountable for his crimes, to provide justice for his victims, and to protect the public. Those goals were achieved.”

While the criminal case has been closed, the civil case against Cheng and his former employers continues.

“The next step for the victims that we know of is to continue forward because justice wasn't served,” Liakas said. “We will make sure justice is served for these victims, because the Queens DA sure as hell is not.”

Liakas claimed that the political influence of NewYork-Presbyterian, the wealthiest hospital system in New York City, allowed for it to get off scot-free despite the fact that some of Cheng’s victims were abused on the hospital’s grounds and with the hospital’s drugs. The hospital also allegedly did not investigate one of the earliest accusations made against Cheng, which came before his arrest.

“They knew what was going on,” Liakas said. “They failed to act.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for the hospital said “the crimes committed by this individual are heinous, despicable, and a fundamental betrayal of our mission and the patients’ trust.”

“We are deeply sorry for all that the victims and their families have endured,” the spokesperson said. “We have continuously worked with law enforcement and with the district attorney’s office to advance this investigation and see that justice is served.”