A 42 year old woman from Tacoma, Washington, convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance by a federal judge in South Dakota.
Mei Ying Li must spend five years in federal prison, followed by four years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Court information says in June of 2020, Li reached an agreement to distribute 100 kilograms or more of a mixture and substance containing marijuana, a schedule I controlled substance, in the District of South Dakota. While she was actively involved in the conspiracy, she accompanied a co-conspirator on multiple trips to deliver marijuana. Li would obtain marijuana from one co-conspirator and then deliver it to another co-conspirator for him to drive and deliver it to additional co-conspirators in other states. Li’s co-conspirator drove the marijuana in his vehicle, while she accompanied him in a different vehicle to serve as protection from law enforcement. During one such trip on December 12, 2020, her co-conspirator drove a vehicle that contained approximately 151.95 kilograms of marijuana through the state of South Dakota, when he was pulled over and the vehicle was searched. Her involvement in the conspiracy ended on December 12, 2020, when she was arrested following this incident.
This case was investigated by the South Dakota Highway Patrol and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Li was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
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