SAN FRANCISCO (JANUARY 27, 2025) – U.S. citizen and Texas native Justin Garcia was released on January 17, 2025 from a prison in Qingdao, China and returned to the United States on the same day.
Mr. Garcia, a 38-year-old English teacher in the city, was taken into custody in May 2022 on suspicion of selling small quantities of marijuana to two foreign nationals. Neither foreign national was charged with a crime.
After spending a week in administrative detention during which he was interrogated, Garcia was formally detained and placed in a detention center. Later he was arrested and tried and sentenced to three years in prison in December 2022.
Garcia was moved to a prison in Qingdao after his conviction. Garcia says there were more than 100 prisoners in his cellblock of whom seven were foreigners, including himself and one other American teacher. Both have been released and returned to the U.S.
Garcia says he worked on the prison factory’s assembly line manufacturing clothes. He worked long hours for little pay, but he garnered enough points for a four-month sentence reduction. Garcia was not physically abused while in the detention center or in prison.
Garcia received consular visits. Officers gave news from the outside world and delivered books and reading material. Consular visits are afforded to U.S. citizens, a benefit not enjoyed by citizens of many other countries.
Dui Hua wishes Justin Garcia good health and success in rebuilding his life.
For questions, please contact The Dui Hua Foundation.