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A Chinese scientist charged in Michigan with smuggling biological materials pleaded guilty on Wednesday, but was given no additional time in jail beyond the five months she already spent in custody.
Yunqing Jian, who was a temporary researcher at a University of Michigan lab, will be released and quickly deported. A judge called it a “very strange” case involving an “incredibly accomplished researcher”.
Jian, 33, was arrested in June and accused of conspiring with a boyfriend to study and nurse a toxic fungus at a campus lab. A pathogen known as Fusarium graminearum can attack wheat, barley, maize and rice. Zunyong Liu was caught carrying small samples while arriving at a Detroit airport in 2024.
In China, Jian and Liu specialized in studying F graminearum, which is widely found in US fields, depending on weather and growing conditions. But it is illegal to bring it into the US without a government permit, which carries strict conditions. The university had no such permits.
Michael Martin, an assistant US attorney, said there was potential for “devastating harm”, though he didn’t elaborate.
“I don’t have evidence that she had evil intent,” Martin told a judge, referring to Jian. “But I don’t have evidence that she was doing this for the betterment of mankind either.”
Roger Innes, an Indiana University expert who looked at the evidence for Jian’s attorneys, said there was “no risk to US farmers, or anyone else”, or any intent to create a more virulent strain. He noted that Liu likely wanted to work with a unique microscope at the lab.
Martin asked for a two-year prison sentence for Jian – four times longer than a maximum six-month term under sentencing guidelines. US district judge Susan DeClercq settled on five months in jail, with time already served by Jian.
Jian, wearing chains around her ankles and waist, apologized but said little, relying instead on a letter filed with the court.
“I did not follow the rules because I was under pressure to proceed with research and produce results,” Jian wrote. “The research was not to harm anyone, but instead to find ways to protect crops from disease.”
The conspiracy charge against Jian was dropped in exchange for a guilty plea to smuggling and making false statements to investigators. She acknowledged that she had asked a colleague in China to send biological material hidden in a book in 2024. The book was intercepted by US agents.
Liu was also charged in the investigation, but he is now in China and is unlikely to return to the US.
