Mei Ying Li, Marijuana Trafficking, South Dakota 2022

A Tacoma, Washington, woman has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for her role in a massive marijuana trafficking operation that saw over 100 kilos of the substance transported through South Dakota.

Mei Ying Li, 42, was convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute a Controlled Substance and sentenced by U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier on August 15, 2022.

According to court documents, 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 in June 2020.

Li was actively involved in the conspiracy, accompanying a co-conspirator on multiple trips to deliver marijuana. She 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.

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. Li’s involvement in the conspiracy ended on December 12, 2020, when she was arrested following this incident.

Li was also ordered to pay $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund as part of her sentence. The case was investigated by the South Dakota Highway Patrol and the Drug Enforcement Administration, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Hodges prosecuting the case.

Li was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

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