Chinese Researcher Sentenced for Smuggling Biological Materials Into US

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Sep 13, 2025 - 09:54 Updated: Sep 13, 2025 - 09:46
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Chinese Researcher Sentenced for Smuggling Biological Materials Into US

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A Chinese researcher accused of smuggling biological materials into the United States has been sentenced to time served, having been held in jail for three months after being arrested upon landing at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

Han Chengxuan, who is in her late 20s, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Matthew Leitman in Detroit on Sept. 10. Han pleaded no contest in August to three smuggling charges and to lying to U.S. customs officials, following her initial arrest in June.
Marty C. Raybon, director of field operations for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP’s) Detroit Field Office, said in a statement on Sept. 10 that Han “will be removed from the U.S. and barred from reentry as the result of her actions.”

Leitman said Han doesn’t appear to be one of the “bad actors” who tried to get “bad stuff” into the United States. As a result, the judge declined a government request to keep Han in jail for another three months.

“This is not a case of smuggling in some sort of virus or a crop-destroying something or other,” Leitman said. “From what I can tell, this material was not a threat at all.”

Han, a doctoral candidate from China’s Huazhong University of Science and Technology in central China’s Wuhan city, was granted a J-1 visa to work as a visiting scholar at a University of Michigan laboratory, where she was supposed to start conducting research in June this year, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by prosecutors earlier this month.

Starting in September 2024, prosecutors said Han made three shipments of “concealed or mis-manifested” biological materials to individuals at the university’s laboratory, according to the court document.

One of the shipments was a book with a hidden envelope that contained a handwritten note on filter paper containing plasmids, which naturally occur in bacterial cells.

Han also sent petri dishes that contained nematode worms, known as C. Elegans, but she falsely manifested them as “plastic plates,” according to the court document.

Prosecutors offered several reasons why Han should be handed a six-month sentence, including how her actions had undermined border security and compromised national security measures.

“Her repeated lies and failure to accept responsibility indicates one thing—she has not been deterred, and a significant sentence needs to be imposed to provide just punishment, to protect the public, and to appropriately deter her and others from repeating this type of smuggling misconduct in the future,” the court document reads.

Han wept as she addressed Leitman in Mandarin, expressing regret for what she described as a “very painful” lesson.

“Government agents are doing their duties here. ... I really have no intention to harm anybody and create a security hazard,” Han said through a translator.

Han’s defense lawyers said Han is “not some sort of Chinese operative,” in their sentencing memorandum filed earlier this month.

“C. Elegans is easy to obtain, easy to study, non-harmful,” the defense lawyers wrote.

Reuben Coleman, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, said in a statement on Sept. 10 that Han’s sentence “reinforces the FBI’s unwavering commitment to protecting Americans from individuals who attempt to illegally import biological materials into our country.”

The Epoch Times was unable to contact Han’s lawyers for comment.

The FBI, CBP, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Homeland Security Investigations investigated Han’s case.

In recent months, two other Chinese nationals have been accused of smuggling biological materials into the United States.

Jian Yunqing, a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan, was charged with conspiring with her boyfriend, Liu Zunyong, to bring a fungus known as Fusarium graminearum into the United States. The fungus can devastate wheat, barley, maize, and rice and cause health problems in humans and livestock.

Jian and Liu were charged in June with visa fraud, conspiracy, making false statements, and smuggling a pathogen into the United States.

According to a court document, Jian has a preliminary hearing in federal court on Sept. 18.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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