Pathogen Smuggling Plea Deal in Works

LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- A Chinese scholar at the University of Michigan, who, along with her boyfriend, allegedly smuggled a pathogen into the U.S., is close to reaching a plea deal with the U.S. Department of Justice, according to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

The Trump administration on Sept. 17, 2025, officially charged Chinese national Yunqing Jian with conspiracy to commit smuggling, smuggling and making false statements.

Jian, along with her boyfriend and Chinese national, Zunyong Liu, allegedly smuggled into the U.S. Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a potential agroterrorism weapon. So far, Liu has not been charged or indicted, according to court documents.

The fungus is known to cause head blight, a disease of wheat, barley, corn and rice, and is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year. Fusarium graminearum's toxins cause vomiting, liver damage and reproductive defects in humans and livestock.

Read more about the fungus here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

According to court documents, Jian was arraigned and signed a waiver of indictment on Sept. 18, 2025. She is scheduled for a plea hearing and sentencing on Nov. 13, 2025.

"The parties are currently engaged in plea negotiations and request this additional time so that they can continue engaging in plea negotiations," the U.S. attorney's office said in an Aug. 14, 2025, filing in the court.

The DOJ lays out an alleged conspiracy between Jian and Liu in the charges filed this month.

"In or about August 2022, the defendant, Yunqing Jian, sought advice from Zunyong Liu about how to hide seeds when going through airport

security upon entering the United States," according to the charging document.

"During January 2024, the defendant, Yunqing Jian, instructed an

individual in the People's Republic of China to ship her plasmid DNA at her home address in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The defendant, Yunqing Jian, instructed the individual how to hide the plasmid DNA in a book."

The plasmid DNA was shipped by Liu to Jian on or about Jan. 19, 2024, and on Jan. 22, 2024, Customs and Border Protection officers intercepted the shipment.

"On or about July 27, 2024, Zunyong Liu arrived at the Detroit

Metropolitan Airport on a flight from Shanghai, PRC," the DOJ said.

"Hidden in Liu's backpack were clear plastic baggies with small clumps of reddish plant material that contained Fusarium graminearum, a type of fungi that can cause diseases in crops."

The allegations are that Jian made false statements to special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Feb. 5, 2025, regarding the smuggling operation.

"Yunqing Jian, knowingly and willfully made materially false statements to an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in that the defendant, Yunqing Jian, stated that she was not aware that Zunyong Liu was planning to import Fusarium graminearum into the United States and that she had no knowledge that Fusarium graminearum had previously been present in the Molecular Plant-Microbe Interaction (MPMI) Laboratory at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan," the DOJ said.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit said in a news release in June 2025 that Jian received Chinese government funding for her work on the pathogen in China.

A single smuggling charge comes with up to 20 years in prison.

The complaint alleges that Jian's electronics contain information describing her membership in and "loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party."

It is further alleged that Jian's boyfriend, Liu, works at a Chinese university where he conducts research on the same pathogen and that he first lied, but then admitted to smuggling Fusarium graminearum into the U.S. through the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, so that he could conduct research on the pathogen at the laboratory at the University of Michigan where his girlfriend, Jian, worked.

The DOJ complaint details another alleged smuggling instance that occurred in August 2022.

On July 27, 2024, Liu arrived at the Detroit airport from Shanghai and was found to have Fusarium graminearum samples concealed in tissues in his backpack, according to the complaint.

Liu initially denied knowledge of the materials but later admitted to smuggling them to conduct research at the University of Michigan's Molecular Plant-Microbe Interaction Laboratory, where his girlfriend worked.

Jian was a postdoctoral researcher at the UM and denied knowledge of Liu's smuggling, according to the complaint.

Fusarium graminearum is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year, the complaint said. According to USDA's website, the agency requires a permit to import the pathogen.

"According to records maintained by the USDA, Yunqing Jian and Zunyong Liu have never applied for, nor have they been issued, a permit to import Fusarium graminearum into the United States," the complaint said.

The complaint said WeChat messages between the couple indicate that Jian was aware of Liu's samples and her effort to mislead investigators about their presence in the UM laboratory.

Read more on DTN:

"US: Chinese Nationals Smuggled Pathogen," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

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