A Chinese doctor was sentenced to death after she was found guilty of stealing babies from the medical facility where she worked, then selling them on the black market.
Obstetrician Zhang Shuxia reportedly told new parents that their babies had congenital problems, CBS News reported. She would then coax them into giving up the children, the Weinan Intermediate People's Court in Shaanxi stated.
This week's case blew the lid off of a child trafficking operation that shuttled babies across several provinces, according to CBS. Documents posted by the court online stated that Zhang sold children to human traffickers who then flipped the kids at much higher prices.
Zhang received a cut from most of the sales - in one instance, she received 21,600 yuan (about $3,600) for transferring a child to a middleman. The baby was ultimately sold for about $9,900, or 59,800 yuan.
Zhang sold seven children total to traffickers between November 2011 and July 2013, CBS reported. Out of the seven children, six were located by police and returned to their parents. One baby who was abandoned by its parents died shortly thereafter.
Zhang has a two year reprieve before her death sentence, according to CBS.
