LOS ANGELES -- On the surface, Yi Qing Chen appeared to be a straight-laced businessman exporting plastic junk from the U.S. to China.
Secretly, Chen was a smuggler willing to sneak into the U.S. whatever would fit into 40-foot shipping containers -- be it fake Marlboros, or ultimately, shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles that could target F-15 or F-16 fighter jets, authorities say.
Chen, who was convicted last October of trafficking in counterfeit cigarettes, distributing drugs, and conspiring to import the missiles, was sentenced Monday to 25 years in federal prison.
The 49-year-old Rosemead, Calif., man became the first to be convicted under a 2004 anti-terrorism statute that outlawed the importation of missile systems made to target aircraft, enacted in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. The statute carries a mandatory 25-year minimum prison term.
Chen "never saw a criminal scheme he didn't want a part of," U.S. District Court Judge Dale Fischer remarked at Chen's sentencing, according to a U.S. Attorney's news release.
Chen's attorney did not return requests for comment Monday. In statements to investigators, Chen maintained that he was lying about the weapons, and had planned on fleeing to China after scamming his business partner and an undercover agent posing as a buyer, according to court papers.
"In actuality, no weapons ever existed, and this conversation was nothing more than a ruse to keep the (undercover agent) interested," Chen's attorney wrote in filings with the court asking for leniency in sentencing. "At best, there existed a scheme to create the illusion of a weapons deal."
The FBI-led operation that led to Chen's conviction -- dubbed "Smoking Dragon" -- began in 2002 with a tip about a cigarette-smuggling ring.
An undercover agent gained the group's trust by helping clear shipments of counterfeit cigarettes through customs. Chen and his partner, Chao Tung Wu, began talking to the agent of plans to manufacture high-quality methamphetamines in Vietnam, and later, of smuggling weapons from China to the U.S. in shipping containers, according to prosecutors.
Chen and Wu eventually offered to arrange the purchase of Chinese-made QW-2 missiles, as well as launch and operation hardware, purportedly via a Chinese general, according to authorities. The two men were arrested in 2005 before any weapons exchanged hands.
Chen, a naturalized U.S. citizen, "was open to procuring and smuggling whatever contraband was available," prosecutors wrote in court papers. "It was simply a matter of expediency. Namely, whatever contraband was first available for smuggling and profit would be smuggled and sold."
Steven Martinez, assistant director in charge for the FBI in Los Angeles, called Chen's willingness to smuggle weapons "a frightening concept."
"There can be no confusion as to the purpose of such contraband -- nor to the potentially horrific consequences for innocent people," he said, according to a statement.
A total of 87 individuals were indicted as a result of Operation Smoking Dragon and a related investigation in New Jersey, authorities said. Chen is the last to be sentenced of nearly three dozen who were convicted in Los Angeles for their part in the conspiracy.
Wu died while awaiting sentencing, before Chen was brought to trial.
In addition to his prison sentence, Chen was also ordered to pay $520,000 to Philip Morris for the counterfeit cigarettes.
(c) 2011, Los Angeles Times.
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Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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