Chinese researcher pleads guilty to smuggling biological pathogen into the U.S.

A researcher from China pleaded guilty to smuggling a biological pathogen into the United States and lying to FBI agents about it, according to federal prosecutors.

Yunqing Jian, 33, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, was sentenced to time served, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan announced on Wednesday.

Jian was arrested in June in a case involving allegations that she and her boyfriend, Zunyong Liu, brought a fungus known as Fusarium graminearum into the U.S.

The pathogen causes “head blight,” a disease affecting wheat, barley, maize, and rice, and has been linked to billions of dollars in global agricultural losses each year.

According to prosecutors, toxins produced by the fungus can cause vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive issues in humans and livestock.

Court records state that Jian received Chinese government funding for her work on the pathogen in China. Investigators also found electronic files describing her membership in and loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party.

Prosecutors said Liu, who works at a Chinese university and researches the same fungus, admitted to smuggling the pathogen through Detroit Metropolitan Airport so he could conduct research on it at the University of Michigan, where Jian worked.

“We must stop Chinese nationals who are smuggling potentially catastrophic biomaterials,” U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. said. “We cannot allow these smugglers to work in the shadows at the University of Michigan.”

The FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection jointly investigated the case.