Young already ran. Castro already ran. This docket is Detroit Metro.
ClickOnDetroit, Erika Erickson, Sept. 17 / criminal complaint, Eastern District of Michigan, Sept. 11: Di Jin, also Sophie Jin or Xin Sui, a Chinese citizen living in Tianjin, is charged with acting as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the Attorney General, 18 U.S.C. ยง 951(a). From at least July 2024 through about Sept. 8, 2026, in the Eastern District of Michigan and elsewhere, the affidavit says she acted under the direction and control of the government of the Peopleโs Republic of China. A complaint is an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent.
FBI Detroit Counterintelligence: Jin arrived Sept. 8 at Detroit Metro from Shanghai Pudong. She told CBP she planned to visit an 81-year-old friend in Washington for 11 days. Officers found a business card for a U.S. government official, later described as possibly retired; the man said he did not know she was traveling and believed she might be an โinformerโ for the Chinese government. Three cellphones. DOJ database checks Sept. 10: neither Di Jin, Sophie Jin, nor Xin Sui had registered under FARA or notified the Attorney General under ยง 951.
The affidavit: after two FBI interviews, โJIN ultimately admitted that she had conducted intelligence gathering work in the United States on behalf of PRC intelligence officials.โ She allegedly told agents MSS Tianjin officers first approached her as early as 2012, and that Shanghai intelligence officers directed later trips to gather information on U.S.โChina relations from government contacts, then report back. An admission in an FBI affidavit is still an allegation until a finder of fact says otherwise. Statutory maximum under ยง 951 is 10 years if convicted. A ceiling is not a sentence.
Visitor visa, May 2025: she listed herself as general manager of Tianjin Smart City Technology Co. Ltd. since March 2018, about 20,000 yuan a month. The FBI: that company was allegedly established in 2019. She answered โnoโ on whether she had been denied a U.S. visa; a prior application, the affidavit says, answered โyes.โ Ordered to federal detention pending trial Sept. 15. Preliminary hearing Sept. 25, 1 p.m., Detroit. We will not invent that hearing.
What this means for you
If you needed L.A.โs $7.5 million allegation, that file exists. If you needed a 951 conviction, you do not have one. If this file sits too heavy, 988.
Bottom line: Charged. ยง 951. Detained. Hearing Sept. 25. Not convicted.
GLHR NEWS explains the news. Not investment, tax, or trading advice. Do your own work before you act.
