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Date: 02-06-2023
Case Style:
United States of America v. Xiao Yang Zhang
Case Number: 4:21-cr-00329
Judge: Gregory K. Frizzell
Court: United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma (Tulsa County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States Attorney’s Office in Tulsa
Defendant's Attorney:
Description: Tulsa, Oklahoma criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged with conspiring with others to import about 22 pounds of ketamine to the U.S. with the intent to distribute the drug.
Xaio Yang Zhang, 29, also known as Wendong He, admitted March 15 in a plea agreement with federal prosecutors to conspiring with others to import about 22 pounds of ketamine to the U.S. with the intent to distribute the drug.
While the drug has legitimate medical use for short-term sedation and anesthesia, it has also been used illegally for its hallucinogenic effects and as a tool to facilitate sexual assault, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tulsa.
“Xiao Yang Zhang arranged for the shipment of more than 10 kilograms of ketamine into the United States hidden in packages of retail goods,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “Federal prosecutors, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection will not tolerate the smuggling of controlled substances into the United States and will hold those in violation of the law accountable.”
In his plea, Zhang admitted to shipping the ketamine to Tulsa from France and Italy between October 2020 and July 2021. The ketamine was hidden in packages in the hope it would pass U.S. customs inspection.
Zhang said in his plea that he rented rooms at residences in the 8800 block of East 93rd Street and 7400 block of South 95th East Avenue to receive the packages, which were then transported to California for delivery to others.
A Tulsa federal grand jury named Zhang July 20, 2021, in a seven-count indictment that charged him with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute ketamine and six counts of importing and bringing into the U.S. ketamine, which is a Schedule III controlled substance.
Zhang, a citizen of Fujian Province, China, was arrested Sept. 2, 2021, in California. He has been held in custody since.
As part of the plea agreement, Zhang, who does not have legal residency status here, has agreed to not contest his immediate removal from the U.S. after he completes his incarceration period.
A conviction on the drug conspiracy charge carries a statutory maximum prison term of 10 years. However, federal sentencing guidelines called for a much shorter sentence in Zhang’s case.
An attorney for Zhang requested his client be sentenced at the low end of the guideline range of 10 months to 16 months in prison.
Zhang’s wife, Li Chen, indicated in a letter asking Frizzell for leniency, that Zhang is “kind by nature” and tried to support the family during difficult times when the pandemic broke out.
But both lost their jobs when the pandemic forced many restaurants, where they worked, to shutter, Chen wrote.
“Due to the ongoing pandemic and the language barrier, we have been unemployed for a long time,” Zhang’s wife continued.
“Please give him a chance and bring a glimmer of hope to our broken family,” Chen wrote.
21 USC 846 and 841(b)(1)(E)(i): Drug Conspiracy
(1s)
Outcome: Defendant was sentenced to time served, 17 months.
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Defendant's Experts:
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