3 scientists were charged in worm smuggling scheme. Lawyers say China helped get the case dismissed

Chinese government intervention reportedly led to the dismissal of charges against three University of Michigan scientists accused of smuggling biological materials.

The materials in question were actually tiny, transparent, harmless worms, despite U.S. officials previously touting the arrests as a major national security victory.

Xu Bai and Fengfan Zhang had been charged with conspiring to assist a colleague in shipping the materials from China, while Zhiyong Zhang faced a charge for making false statements.

After spending over three months in a Detroit federal jail, the scientists saw their charges abruptly dismissed on February 5 at the Justice Department's request, allowing them to return to China.

While the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the government's retreat, defense attorneys credited the Chinese Consulate in Chicago for actively negotiating the outcome.

Defense lawyer Ray Cassar noted that he was nearing a misdemeanor plea deal when prosecutors completely dropped the case following serious diplomatic talks over the Ph.D. students' futures.

Fellow defense attorney Mark Satawa confirmed the consulate's involvement was a major factor, adding that he had already planned to challenge the interrogation of his Mandarin-speaking client who was questioned without a translator.

The defense maintained there was no nefarious intent behind the shipments, explaining that the sender likely mislabeled the short-lived worms simply to avoid U.S. customs delays.

The biological materials themselves are routinely used in academic research to study chemical reactions and light sensitivity.

The original sender, Chengxuan Han, previously pleaded no contest to smuggling in September and was deported to China after three months in custody.

In a similar but separate case, another temporary researcher, Yunqing Jian, was deported after pleading guilty to smuggling a common plant fungus that an independent expert confirmed posed absolutely no risk to the U.S.
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