A West Linn man who imported $2.5 million worth of counterfeit N95 masks from China during the height of the pandemic and sold hundreds of thousands to unwitting customers was sentenced Monday to six months in prison.

Jiang Yu, 70, also created fake certificates of authentication for the masks he sold, according to federal prosecutors.

The fraud unraveled when the FBI and Homeland Security Investigation agents raided his West Linn home with a search warrant and seized nearly 600,000 masks he had stored there in April 2021, according to a sentencing memo.

“There was a lot of fraud surrounding the pandemic. And the message that should be sent is that you’ll go to jail for doing that sort of thing,” U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman said at sentencing.

Mosman found Yu lied about what he was selling to customers, yet said it appeared that his actions represented “aberrant” behavior in his life, considering he had been crime free until now. Prosecutors said he sold to at least six unidentified companies that resold the masks

Yu pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods between May 2020 and June 2021. He has agreed to pay $245,449 in restitution to the six companies that were not named in the court record.

“Mr. Yu’s conduct was selfish and financially motivated,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Quinn P. Harrington argued in a sentencing memo.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Rykken, who handled the sentencing, urged a sentence of two and a half years, though she and Harrington acknowledged that the national average for similar cases has been a 10-month prison term.

Yu was fully aware that he was supplying customers with counterfeit masks, but the government did not test the full supply of masks seized, Rykken said.

Testing by the defense of a sample of masks showed some successfully filtered particles but there was no testing on the durability or fit of the masks, she told the judge.

Defense lawyer Wayne Mackeson sought probation with home detention or community service for Yu, pointing out that his client has no prior criminal record. If the judge was inclined to issue a prison term, Mackeson asked that it be no more than 10 months.

Yu had been involved in the import-export of air filtration products and LED lighting equipment before this occurred, according to Mackeson. He became a U.S. citizen in 2011 after coming to the United States to study trumpet at Oregon State University in the late 1980s.

A native of China, Yu had performed as a solo trumpeter for the People’s Liberation Army in China, studied at Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music and was noticed by the director of bands from Oregon State University when playing at the International Music Festival in Budapest in 1987. He was invited to study trumpet in a master’s program at OSU and arrived on campus in 1988. The next year, he was granted authorization to live and work in the U.S. as a permanent resident during the Tiananmen Square protests, according to his lawyer.

He studied at OSU for two years, then transferred to Portland State University to complete his master’s degree while playing part time for the Oregon Symphony Orchestra from 1989 through 1993. He eventually became a licensed electrician and worked for companies selling air filtration systems and importing LED lighting equipment from China for resale in the United States.

Mackeson called Yu the “middleman” in the conspiracy, working with another man from the United States and a person in China, according to his lawyer.

“While he subjectively believed that the masks were real in the sense that they were N95 masks, Defendant did not fully think through and appreciate the overall seriousness of the conduct in which he was engaged,” Mackesen wrote to the judge. “Nevertheless, what occurred here does not reflect who Defendant is as a person. He has given much to the community by way of music, has studied and worked hard, and has otherwise led an unassuming life.’’

Yu remains out of custody and was ordered to start serving the sentence on Aug. 8.

-- Maxine Bernstein covers federal court and criminal justice. Reach her at 503-221-8212, mbernstein@oregonian.com, follow her on X @maxoregonian, or on LinkedIn.

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