Zhenli Ye Gon Will be Held for Three More Months

A federal judge has agreed to hold a Chinese-Mexican businessman in jail for three more months while prosecutors assemble their case charging that Zhenli Ye Gon conspired to import large amounts of methamphetamines to the United States.^[1] But U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan admonished prosecutors Friday for producing such little evidence against Ye Gon, who was arrested July 23 in Washington DC.^[2]

Judge Sullivan denied prosecutors' initial request to keep Ye Gon jailed for a year while they gather information.^[3] ''You say you have all this evidence, but you haven't turned anything over…[t]he man was arrested two months ago. That concerns me….[the government needs to] proceed at something more than a snail's pace.'' Sullivan said.^[4]

Mexican authorities assert that they seized $205 million in U.S. drug profits from Ye Gon's Mexico City mansion in March, making it the largest drug-related cash seizure in history;^[5] U.S. prosecutors admitted on Friday that they hadn't actually seen the money, but ''I've seen a video of it,'' said Justice Department lawyer Paul Laymon.^[6] Laymon then went on to spend almost a half hour describing the government's claim that Ye Gon was part of a drug cartel, yet he never once produced any evidence.^[7]

Justice Department officials traveled to Mexico last week searching for the missing evidence but would have to hire contractors to translate records from Spanish and Chinese, Laymon said.^[8] He said buildings housing Ye Gon's business in Mexico appeared suspicious and unlikely to generate the millions of dollars Ye Gon has made.^[9]

Ye Gon asserts that chemicals imported by his pharmaceutical company, Unimed Pharm Chem de Mexico SA, are legitimate and intended for cold medicines.^[10] His federal criminal defense attorneys have argued that he was framed by Mexico's ruling party and that he had been ordered to store an illegal presidential slush fund.^[11]

Lisa Angelo, one of Ye Gon's Washington-based federal criminal defense attorneys, said the U.S. government's case has been fixated on Ye Gon's money and gambling debts in Las Vegas, yet he isn't charged with money laundering or illegal gambling but with importing drugs.^[12] ''What's lacking in the (government's statements) is a link to the charges he faces…..There is a very, very reasonable explanation for everything the government has said.'' she said.^[13]

As we discussed last week in this blog, Drug importation is covered under 21 U.S.C. § 952 wherein is states that it is a crime for a person to import into the United States any controlled substance in schedule I or II, or any narcotic drug in schedules III, IV, or V;^[14] or for a person to import into the United States any non-narcotic controlled substance found in schedules III, IV, or V;^[15] or create, distribute, or dispense, or possess with intent to distribute or dispense, a counterfeit substance.^[16]The delineation of the drug schedules can be found on our Drug Crimes page.

Federal criminal defense attorney Douglas McNabb has previously discussed the transnational crime of drug trafficking here.

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^[1] AP Staff, Drug Suspect to Be Jailed 3 More Months, Associated Press Newswire, September 8, 2007, available at LEXIS, News Library, Wire News Services.
^[2] Id.
^[3] Id.
^[4] Id.
^[5] Stats from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Id.
^[8] Id.
^[9] Id.
^[10] Id.
^[11] Id.
^[12] Id.
^[13] Id.
^[14] 21 U.S.C. §952 (a)(2007).
^[15] Id., at §952(b).
^[16] Id. § 841(a)(2).