Two Sentenced for Attempting to Bribe Law Enforcement to Overlook Illegal Marijuana Cultivation
(UPDATE — OCTOBER 13, 2022, 11:39 AM PST) This story has been updated to include additional sentencing information.
A California man and a Minnesota woman, who are reportedly siblings, were recently sentenced for their roles in a case involving bribery and a marijuana grow operation.
Chi Meng Yang, of Montague, and Gaosheng Laitinen, of St. Paul, Minnesota, were both sentenced on Tuesday, October 4, for a bribery scheme that authorities say was intended to protect illegal marijuana grow operations from county law enforcement.
Yang was sentenced to five years and 11 months, to be followed by five years of supervised release, while Laitinen was sentenced to time served and a $50,000 fine, as well as two years of supervised release.
Yang, who was arrested in August 2017, had tried to bribe former Sheriff Jon Lopey into turning a blind eye to the illegal grow operations, and to not enforce laws against water trucks used for the operations, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Sheriff Lopey immediately contacted the FBI, who in turn began a surveillance operation that ultimately led to the arrests and convictions of the two individuals.
