Chinese student gets 8 years in prison, escapes from prison for “45 minutes of freedom”, is arrested and given an additional 10 months

a Chinese womaninternational students He was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for arson. While serving his sentence in federal prison, he tried to escape but was captured by police 45 minutes after his escape. Recently the woman was sentenced to an additional 10 months in jail for escaping from jail.

The Justice Department announced on October 28 that Xiaoqin Yan, a 32-year-old Chinese woman, was sentenced to 102 months in federal prison for opening fire at an Alabama church and illegally possessing a gun. On December 10, 2024, Yan Xiaoqinconnecticut Federal Satellite Low, escape from Danbury Federal Correctional Facility. He was captured about 45 minutes after his escape.

According to Federal Bureau of Prisons documents, the facility is a single-story fenced-in facility that utilizes cell-style housing and has a rated capacity of 198 people. Unlike the double fence of the main prison, the physical barriers here are more limited. Yan Xiaoqin has been in custody since the incident. He pleaded guilty to prison escape on April 10, 2026, which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison. On October 28, the judge sentenced him to an additional 10 months in prison, which meant that a new sentence was added to his original 102-month sentence.

The prison escape occurred around 7 p.m. on December 10, 2024, the Associated Press reported. Prison staff discovered that the security alarm had been activated and discovered that a prisoner had escaped, and then notified local police. At 7:45 that night, the police found Yan Xiaoqin and sent him back to prison.

It is reported that Yan Xiaoqin’s original conviction came from a case of arson at a religious church. Information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Alabama shows that on the morning of September 30, 2021, the Montgomery Fire Department received a report and went to the First Baptist Church Montgomery in the city center to extinguish the fire. The fire was brought under control and no one was injured, but the church building was seriously damaged.

The prosecutor released evidence showing that a woman was captured on surveillance camera carrying a duffel bag and plastic bags into the church the day before the fire. After 2 pm on the day of the incident, the same person was captured on video taking out a silver container from a bag and lighting it on fire at several places in the building. Investigators linked Yan Xiaoqin to the case based on clues such as the vehicle driven by the person who committed the arson. On October 4, 2021, law enforcement officers arrested Yan Xiaoqin at a residence in Montgomery and found a duffel bag, clothing, gasoline containers, fire starter, lighter, and a pistol similar to the surveillance video.

The Justice Ministry reported that Yan Xiaoqin had entered the country on a student visa, but his visa later expired. At the time of the incident she had overstayed her stay, and could not legally possess a gun. In June 2023, a federal jury convicted him of two counts of arson and possession of a gun while unlawfully residing. Regarding Yan Xiaoqin’s motive for arson, there has been no clear explanation in public court records and official statements. Some reports mentioned that before the incident, he had had several altercations with church staff and had shown “strange behavior”. The judge also ordered him to undergo a mental evaluation, but the relevant findings were not made public.