A former Indiana University postdoctoral researcher has been sentenced to more than four months in prison after pleading guilty to smuggling bacterial DNA into the United States from China, concealed inside a mislabeled clothing shipment, federal prosecutors announced April 10.
Youhuang Xiang, 32, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, was also ordered to pay a $500 fine and serve one year of supervised release. As part of his plea agreement, Xiang agreed to immediate removal from the United States to China upon completion of his sentence.
Xiang holds a doctorate from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and came to the United States on a J-1 visa to conduct postdoctoral research in the biology department at Indiana University Bloomington, beginning in June 2023.
According to court documents, the FBI’s Indianapolis Division began investigating suspicious shipments from China to individuals affiliated with Indiana University in November 2025. Agents identified a package Xiang received at his Bloomington residence in March 2024, originating from a Guangzhou company called Sci-Tech Innovation Trading. The shipping manifest declared the contents to be women’s underwear made of man-made fibers, a description investigators found suspicious given the sender’s focus on science and technology.
Xiang was interviewed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at Chicago O’Hare International Airport in November 2025 as he returned from a research trip in the United Kingdom. He initially denied any knowledge of smuggling before admitting the shipping manifest had been intentionally mislabeled and that samples of E. coli bacterial DNA had been concealed inside the package to circumvent U.S. law. CBP immediately terminated his J-1 visa and the FBI placed him under arrest.
During the April 7 sentencing hearing, the court also heard that investigators found evidence Xiang was a member of the Chinese Communist Party and that he had lied to immigration authorities about that affiliation.
U.S. Attorney Tom Wheeler said Xiang had exploited his access to university laboratory facilities and his visa status to illegally bring biological materials into the country, conduct he described as posing a serious threat to public safety and agricultural security.
FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. O’Malley said concealing E. coli to avoid detection showed a clear disregard for both the law and the safety of others.
USDA Inspector General John Walk noted that Xiang had exploited a federally funded USDA research grant and said his office treats illegal imports of biological materials as a top investigative priority.
The case was jointly investigated by the FBI Indianapolis Division, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the USDA Office of Inspector General. Chief U.S. District Court Judge James R. Sweeney II imposed the sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Rinka, chief of the office’s National Security Unit, prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Indiana
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