OKC Standard

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 for their roles in a major black-market marijuana drug trafficking organization (DTO). According to public records, in December 2022, agents from 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 and then to 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 alleges that Ye, working with 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 moved to two warehouses owned by Ye to be picked up by semi-truck and transported to the east coast. It is estimated that between June 2022 and March 2023, Ye helped ship approximately 28 tons of marijuana out 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 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, OBN, and OCPD as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles high-level drug traffickers using a prosecutor-led approach that leverages 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.