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A man who owned and operated illegal marijuana grows in Pontotoc and Hughes counties was sentenced this week to serve time in state prison.
Yunda Chen, 50, pleaded guilty to his charges in Pontotoc County Aug. 12 and was sentenced Aug. 26. Chen was sentenced to 20 years on each of three counts — distribution of a controlled dangerous substance not in the course of legitimate business; conspiracy to commit aggravated drug trafficking; and conspiracy to commit furnishing false/fraudulent material — with all but the first eight years suspended.
Chen was also sentenced to serve seven years for conspiracy or endeavoring to cultivate (illegally) marijuana; five years for unlawful use of a communication facility to commit a felony; and eight years for acquiring proceeds from drug activity.
Chen was also ordered to pay a little over $575,000 in fines, costs and fees. He will get credit for time served since his arrest, and upon release from prison, will then be on supervised release (probation/parole) for the suspended portion of the sentence (12 years).
All sentences will run concurrently with each other, and also concurrently with the sentence he received in Hughes County after pleading guilty there.
There, Chen was charged with endeavoring/conspiracy to deliver/manufacture and/or possess a controlled dangerous substance. He pleaded guilty to that count and was sentenced to serve seven years in prison and pay $55,000 in fines and costs.
Chen’s Pontotoc County operation was raided by law enforcement officers in December 2022.
Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (OBN) Director Donnie Anderson said Chen was growing large amounts of marijuana and then selling it on the black market.
By law, marijuana grown in Oklahoma is supposed to be sold only in Oklahoma as a medicinal product. Much of it is taken out of state for illegal sale, according to OBN.
“His was a very large-scale operation,” Anderson said. “For example, on the day of one of these search warrants, there were over 6,000 pounds of processed marijuana confiscated and 48,000 plants. He was a straight-up black market guy. Which, most of the marijuana grown in Oklahoma in Oklahoma is black market, but he was a very big player in moving black market marijuana out of the state of Oklahoma.”
Anderson gave praise to District 22 District Attorney Erik Johnson for the way he handled the case.
“He did one stellar job on this deal,” Anderson said. “We went from people never going to jail for marijuana, to now this guy (Chen) took eight in, 12 out, and there may even be more coming out of this, but that’s a very good job.”
”I came into office with a pledge to tackle the illegal marijuana industry that had set up shop in our communities, and this case is an example of that commitment,” Johnson said.
”Due to the excellent work of the OBN, coupled with my aggressive prosecutors — specifically Nick Thurman — coupled with my task force, we are putting these criminals out of business.”
“I came into office with a pledge to tackle the illegal marijuana industry that had set up shop in our communities, and this case is an example of that commitment,”
Johnson said. “Due to the excellent work of the OBN, coupled with my aggressive prosecutors and task force, we are putting these criminals out of business.”
Anderson indicated that the number of marijuana grows in Oklahoma has been reduced substantially.
“Whenever I came to the Bureau (in 2020), we had 10,000 grows in the state of Oklahoma,” Anderson said. “We’re down to right under 3,000,” Anderson said, however, that there are still too many.
“If you compare us to a state like Arkansas, our population is just a little bit bigger than Arkansas, Arkansas has a total of eight marijuana grows in the whole state to supply the medical needs.”
Agencies involved in the raids on the December 2022 grow raids included OBN, Pontotoc County Sheriff’s Office, Chickasaw Nation Lighthorse Police Department, Ada Police Department, District 22 Drug and Violent Crime Task Force, Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Marshal’s Service, Homeland Security Investigations and Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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”}]] A man who owned and operated illegal marijuana grows in Pontotoc and Hughes counties was sentenced this week to serve time in state prison. Read More