Yan pleads guilty to her role in stolen UCO scheme

U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo for the Western District of New York announced Aug. 21 that Fangfang Yan, 41, of Shanxi, China, and Pittsford, New York, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci Jr. to misprision of a felony, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a fine of $250,000. 

On April 8, 2022, Guodeng Chen and Didi Huang caused 45,000 pounds of stolen, used cooking oil (UCO) to be shipped from the Western District of New York to to a refinery located in Erie, Pennsylvania*.

Chen and Huang received $29,433.60 for this shipment.

On April 28, 2022, Chen and Huang caused another 45,000 pounds of stolen UCO to be shipped from the Western District of New York to the same refinery.

Chen and Huang received $30,618 for this shipment.

Yan was aware that Chen and Huang were transporting the stolen UCO but failed to notify federal authorities.

On May 6, 2022, when interviewed by law enforcement officers and asked about Chen and Huang’s illegal activity, Yan refused to answer the officer’s questions in order to conceal Chen and Huang’s crimes. 

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Meghan K. McGuire.

The plea is the result of an investigation by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office under the direction of Sheriff Todd Baxter, Homeland Security Investigations under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Anthony Patrone, the New York State Police under the direction of Major Kevin Sucher, and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General under the direction of Anthony Licari, special agent-in-charge for the Midwestern region.  

Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 1 before Judge Geraci. 

*Editor’s Note: The refinery in Erie, Pennsylvania, was the Hero BX biodiesel plant. Hero BX President Chris Peterson told Biobased Diesel® in 2023 that he had no idea the UCO was stolen and that it was purchased from one of the company’s large-scale aggregators.