Police arrest man wounded in marijuana farm slayings

By KEN MILLER Associated Press

(AP) — The survivor of a shooting at an Oklahoma marijuana farm that killed four people has been arrested after being released from a hospital where he was treated for gunshot wounds.

Yifei Lin, 44, was arrested on Wednesday after the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics filed notice to seize the farm west of Hennessey, a town about 55 miles (90 kilometers) northwest of Oklahoma City.

Lin remained jailed on Saturday according to jail records, although court documents do not show that formal charges have yet been filed.

Lin’s attorney, Clay Curtis, said on Saturday that he has not been provided the likely charges, though illegally manufacturing and trafficking marijuana are possible, and that arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday.

“We maintain our innocence,” Curtis said. “I believe this is all the result of bad advice he was given in how to set up and maintain his company. (Lin) was assured all this was on the up and up.”

Curtis declined to say who was advising Lin in the creation of the business.

The filing for seizure of the farm alleges Lin is 25% owner of the business and was operating it under an illegally obtained license for growing marijuana for medical purposes. The document says an Oklahoma resident was a “straw” owner of 75% of the farm who was paid for use of his name to satisfy state residency licensing requirements.

The farm “was used or intended to be used … to facilitate the commission of the illegal cultivation, manufacturing, trafficking, and distribution of marijuana,” despite being licensed as a medical marijuana growing facility, according to the document.

The straw owner had no involvement in the operation, has not been charged, and voluntarily surrendered to the narcotics bureau his registration for the farm, the filing stated.

Three men and a woman, all Chinese nationals as is Lin, were “executed” in the November 20th shooting in a garage at the farm, police have said.

The suspect in the shooting, Chen Wu, 45, was arrested in Florida two days later and has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of assault and battery with a deadly weapon.

A not guilty plea has been entered for Wu, who remains jailed without bail.

Wu had demanded $300,000 be returned to him as a portion of his investment in the farm, prosecutors said in court documents, and he opened fire when the money could not be given to him immediately.