Couple accused of masterminding Miami-area warehouse robbery bailed by San Francisco court

August 5, 2026

A Chinese Bay Area couple, accused of masterminding an armed robbery of $170,000 worth of Apple iPhones from a Miami-area warehouse, won bail today in a San Francisco federal courtroom – and were told to make their own way to Florida to face robbery and kidnapping charges.

Prosecutors say Weijian Mei and Yili Ye were the masterminds behind the June 27 2025 heist in Sweetwater, FL in which six workers were taken hostage. One robber was shot by police.

“Mr Mei is one of the masterminds of this robbery,” assistant U.S. attorney Nathan Theobold told U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Hixson this morning.

“Mei identified this warehouse,” he said. “He then identified the crew of robbers – whom he flew from SFO to Miami to conduct this robbery. [Mei and his wife] then both bought airsoft guns, tactical vests, fake police sirens and police patches.”

“Three individuals approached the warehouse wearing ‘Michael Myers’ Halloween-style masks, tactical vests, and each carrying airsoft guns which appeared to be real firearms. They found six victims, tied them with zip ties and forced them into a bathroom.”

The robbers ransacked the warehouse but, as they left the building, they were immediately confronted by police, responding to a 911 call, who opened fire on them. This precipitated a high-speed highway chase before the getaway vehicle was immobilized and the robbers captured.

Those three – Bay Area residents Aaron Brown, 35, Eric Chase, 42 and Ranier Landry, 27 – have since pleaded guilty, as has getaway driver Jiayin Nian, 26. Chase was shot in the leg by police.

Theobold said Mei supervised the crime from a vehicle parked nearby and, when the robbery went south, he and his wife drove to Atlanta, GA before catching a plane back to the Bay Area.

They had arrived in Miami two days before the robbery and stayed in an Airbnb rented by Ye. Prosecutors say Ye was responsible for “both literally and figuratively” arming the robbery crew.

The court heard that Mei, who moved to the U.S. from China in 2011, is now a U.S. citizen while his wife is a Chinese national who is a green card holder. Both used a Mandarin interpreter in court.

The court was told that the pair had been experiencing financial difficulties.

This morning Judge Hixson refused prosecutors’ request to keep the defendants detained and have them taken to Florida in custody.

“I’m going to order the defendant released,” Hixson said of Mei. “As to flight risk – I don’t see a significant flight risk. He is a U.S. citizen and, apparently, is no longer a citizen of China. He has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for a substantial period of time and has a stable family here.”

“He is neither a flight risk nor a danger and should be released,” concluded the judge, who also refused prosecutors’ request for an ankle monitor.

Hixson also released Ye and, because her driver’s license was not REAL ID compliant, granted her request to use her Chinese passport when traveling by air to Florida. Again he was unmoved by prosecutors’ anxiety that having the Chinese national defendant, her Chinese passport and planes to China in close proximity was not necessarily conducive to the interests of justice.

Hixson stayed Mei’s release for 24 hours to allow federal prosecutors in Miami time to appeal his decision to a district judge there.

Both defendants have pleaded ‘not guilty’ to conspiracy to commit robbery, attempted robbery and kidnapping.

In February this year Landry was sentenced to 63 months and Brown was sentenced to 41 months’ imprisonment. Last week, Chase was handed a 46-month term. Nian will be sentenced next month.

The case continues.

Update: Chief U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga, of the Southern District of Florida, has declined prosecutors’ request to stay Mei’s release.