Naiqing Lin, 37, a Chinese national living in New York, has been sentenced to serve 37 months in federal prison for his role in a conspiracy to possess and distribute 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana and 1,000 or more marijuana plants, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.
The sentencing is the culmination of a four-year-long investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, involving 10 defendants sentenced to serve 463 months collectively in federal prison.
On July 5, 2023, a federal Grand Jury returned a 47-count Indictment against Naiqing and several co-defendants, charging them for their roles in a major black-market marijuana drug trafficking organisation.
According to public records, from January 2019 through May 10, 2023, co-conspirators Fei Xie, 36, and Naigang Lin, 38, operated as business partners who directed the DTO, of which Naiqing worked as one of the marijuana distributors.
The DTO originally operated out of Michigan, where it specialised in the cultivation, brokering, and distribution of black-market marijuana across the country, and relied on a network of individuals, black-market marijuana grows, and stash houses for its operation.
In early 2022, after several law enforcement actions in Michigan, the DTO relocated to the Western District of Oklahoma and established a black-market marijuana grow in Ada, Oklahoma.
Just as in Michigan, the DTO relied on a network of stash houses in Oklahoma City to store bulk amounts of marijuana prior to it being transported to customers out of state.
During the period of the conspiracy, the DTO used a variety of monetary instruments and financial transactions in an effort to launder their criminally derived proceeds, including wire transfers, funnel and straw bank accounts, vehicle purchases, and the purchase of cashier’s checks and real estate.
All told, during the investigation, law enforcement seized approximately 3,500 pounds of marijuana; approximately 5,000 marijuana plants; $409,883.04 in U.S. currency; $4,669,671.64 in real property (10 properties); and 10 vehicles.
On August 23, 2024, following a three-day trial, a federal jury found both Naiqing and Xie guilty of drug conspiracy.
At the sentencing hearing on April 29, 2025, U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton sentenced Naiqing to serve 37 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release. In announcing his sentence, Judge Heaton noted that the Defendant played an active role in what was a significant drug trafficking operation.
“This criminal organisation exploited Oklahoma to expand their illicit, large-scale black-market marijuana and money laundering operation across the country,” said United States Attorney Robert J. Troester.
“Defendants like these who attempt to run illegal drug trafficking organisations will eventually account for their criminal activity,“ said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Dallas Special Agent in Charge Travis Pickard.
“This sentencing marks the end of a years-long investigation that dismantled a sophisticated black-market drug and money laundering operation,” said ICE Homeland Security Investigations Detroit acting Special Agent in Charge Jared Murphey.
The other defendants charged in this case have been sentenced as follows:
- Naigang Lin, of Oklahoma City, was sentenced to serve 120 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for drug conspiracy and monetary transaction in criminally derived property
- Naiyang Lin, 36, of Oklahoma City, was sentenced to serve 32 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for drug conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy
- Fei Xie, 36, of Kirkland, Washington, was sentenced to serve 120 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for drug conspiracy
- Li Jin Yang, 60, a Chinese national living in Oklahoma City, was sentenced to serve six months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release for drug conspiracy
- Chang-Hui Chen, 46, a Chinese national living in Michigan, was sentenced to serve 37 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for drug conspiracy
- Meiyan Xiao, 34, a Chinese national living in New York, was sentenced to serve 16 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for drug conspiracy
- Daniel Walsh, 35, of Savannah, Georgia, was sentenced to serve four months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for drug conspiracy
- Terrance Jamahl Allen, 43, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, was sentenced to serve 46 months in federal prison for drug conspiracy
- Ahmed Salim Harrold, 46, of Wyoming, Michigan, was sentenced to serve 22 months in federal prison, followed by four years of supervised release, for drug conspiracy; and
- Juan Lyu, 35, a Chinese national living in Oklahoma City, was sentenced to serve 60 months of supervised release for money laundering conspiracy.
