Overview
- Yunqing Jian pleaded guilty to smuggling and making false statements and received a sentence of time served, clearing the way for swift deportation and a ban on reentry.
- The case centers on Fusarium graminearum, a regulated crop pathogen that cannot be imported without federal permits, which the university did not hold.
- Court records say agents intercepted a package with samples hidden inside a book in 2024, and co-defendant Zunyong Liu was previously caught carrying small samples at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.
- Prosecutors sought a two-year term but U.S. District Judge Susan DeClercq imposed five months already served, with the government acknowledging it had no evidence of malicious intent.
- Liu is in China and unlikely to return, and federal agents have charged additional University of Michigan scholars in related investigations in recent days.