Oklahoma City Man Sentenced to Serve Nine Years in Federal Prison for Role in Major Black-Market Marijuana Operation

OKLAHOMA CITY – BRANDON YE, 43, of Oklahoma City, has been sentenced to serve 108 months in federal prison for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

On May 3, 2024, a federal grand jury returned a four-count Indictment against Ye and several other co-defendants, charging them for their roles in a major black-market marijuana drug trafficking organization (DTO). According to public record, in December 2022, agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics (OBN), and Oklahoma City Police Department officers, were investigating reports of a separate DTO when they observed what appeared to be an ‘Amazon’ delivery van pull up to a suspected drug stash house. Agents witnessed several individuals load the van with large, full trash bags. The van’s registration led authorities to a business address in Oklahoma City owned by Ye, followed by a home owned by Ye, where authorities observed what was later determined to be a fake Amazon van parked in the driveway.

An affidavit in a previously filed criminal complaint further alleges that Ye, working with the co-defendants and others, would pick up trash bags containing vacuum-sealed packages of marijuana from licensed marijuana grows across Oklahoma, and deliver the bags to a stash house operated by Ye in Oklahoma City. From there, the marijuana was repackaged into cardboard boxes and would be moved to two warehouses owned by Ye, to be picked up by a semi-truck, and transported to the east coast. It’s estimated that, between June 2022 and March 2023, Ye helped ship approximately 28 tons of marijuana out of the state of Oklahoma.

On September 11, 2023, Ye pleaded guilty to a two-count Superseding Information, and admitted to knowingly possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute, and to possessing a firearm while distributing that marijuana illegally.

At the sentencing hearing on June 20, 2024, U.S. District Judge Scott L. Palk sentenced Ye to serve 108 months in federal prison. In announcing the sentence, Judge Palk specifically noted the vast amount of marijuana transported by Ye during his clandestine operation.

This case is the result of an investigation by the FBI Oklahoma City Field Office, the OBN, and OCPD. It is also a part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. Assistant U.S. Attorney Wilson D. McGarry is prosecuting the case.

Reference is made to public filings for additional information.