A St. Paul couple facing with drug charges after a driver associated with them was caught carrying some 350 pounds of marijuana to their Twin Cities home avoided prison time when they were sentenced this week.
Ramsey County District Judge Sara Grewing placed Cynthia Ntxheb Yang, 37, and her husband, Kao Xiong, 39, on probation after accepting their guilty pleas to one count each of aiding and abetting second-degree drug possession.
First-degree drug charges previously facing the couple were dismissed.
Yang was placed on probation for two years; Xiong for five years. Both also were ordered to complete community service.
The couple was charged in October of 2018 after law enforcement executed a search warrant in their home on the 800 block of Cook Avenue and found garbage bags and boxes of marijuana scattered throughout the basement, court documents say. In total, more than 100 packages of marijuana were found inside the residence, totaling nearly 100 pounds.
Officers also found about $30,000 in cash, a variety of firearms, and drug ledgers outlining payments and purchases associated with a California marijuana farm totaling more than $100,000.
Authorities were tipped to the couple’s operation after the South Dakota Highway Patrol pulled over a man carrying about 350 pounds of marijuana, according to the criminal charges.
The driver told law enforcement Xiong had hired him to drive the marijuana from California to Xiong’s St. Paul home, the complaint said.