Former IU researcher pleads guilty to smuggling E. coli DNA from China to U.S.

A former biology researcher at Indiana University in Bloomington has pleaded guilty to using women’s underwear shipments to smuggle E. coli bacteria DNA into the United States from China, federal authorities announced Friday.

Youhuang Xiang, 32, pleaded guilty on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana to one charge of smuggling. He received a sentence of four months in prison, a $500 fine, one year of supervised release and his deportation to China. Xiang will be immediately removed from the U.S. as part of his plea agreement with the government.

“Those who attempt to secretly bring biological materials into the United States are taking a serious risk with public safety,” FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. O’Malley said in a press release. “Concealing E. coli to avoid detection shows a clear disregard for the law and for the safety of others. The FBI will not tolerate these actions and will ensure those responsible are brought to justice.”

An IU spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from IBJ. Xiang’s attorney, James Tunick, also did not respond to a request for comment before publication.

Xiang was a postdoctoral fellow at IU whose research involved topics in crop genetics and plant-microbe interaction. On Nov. 23, he was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Chicago O’Hare International Airport when he returned to the U.S. from a research trip in the United Kingdom.

Earlier that month, the FBI’s Indianapolis Division began investigating suspicious shipments from China to people affiliated with IU. FBI agents found that in March 2024, Xiang received a shipment to his Bloomington home from China.

The shipping manifest for the package from the Guangzhou Sci‑Tech Innovation Trading said it contained women’s underwear. Court documents said investigators thought it was unusual that Xiang was purchasing and shipping women’s underwear from China, especially from a company focused on science and technology innovation.

During Xiang’s interview at O’Hare, he denied any knowledge of smuggling. However, he admitted the shipping manifest for the package was intentionally mislabeled and plasmid DNA samples of E. coli bacteria were concealed in the package to circumvent U.S. law. He told investigators that the material was shipped to him specifically for use in his research at IU, according to court documents.

Plasmid DNA are small, circular DNA molecules found in most bacteria, including E. coli. They are used by researchers to replicate genes and study them. Plasmid DNA of E. coli do not have infectious qualities that cause sickness, according to the Human Genome Research Institute.

Following his interview with investigators, Customs and Border Protection immediately terminated Xiang’s J-1 visa and he was arrested by the FBI after his admission.

The FBI’s investigation also uncovered evidence that Xiang was a member of the Chinese Communist Party and that he lied about his affiliation with the CCP when immigration authorities questioned him.

“Xiang intentionally exploited his access to laboratory facilities at one of Indiana’s flagship research universities, and the privileges of his J‑1 visa status, to illegally smuggle biological materials into the United States,” Tom Wheeler, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, said in a press release. “Conduct like Xiang’s circumvents diligent inspection of potentially harmful substances by CBP, USDA, and those agencies required by law to prevent the introduction of invasive and harmful biologic materials into our country. Such conduct poses a very serious threat to public safety and to the health of our agricultural economy.”

The FBI Indianapolis Division, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General investigated the case. Chief U.S. District Court Judge James R. Sweeney II imposed the sentence.