SKOWHEGAN — The trial of a Brooklyn, New York, man arrested in connection with a 2024 bust of a suspected illegal cannabis growing operation in Skowhegan was called off Monday because he did not show up to court.

Yao Bin Cheng, 63, recently returned to the country of China, his attorney Darrick X. Banda said Monday at the Somerset County Superior Court.

Banda said a third party facilitating his office’s communication with Cheng — who is not proficient in English — told him that shortly before a case status conference Thursday. Cheng has no intention of returning to the U.S., Banda said this person told him.

Banda said he had not spoken directly with Cheng since jury selection, which was conducted Sept. 11.

After Banda informed the court of the development, jurors were placed on standby. They were told over the weekend that “scheduling complications” delayed the start of trial and to check for an update Monday.

Otherwise, though, the court and attorneys were ready for trial, scheduled to last up to a week. Two Cantonese-English interpreters flew in from out of state. Investigators were in the courthouse, ready to testify.

“This was very frustrating and disappointing to me,” Superior Court Chief Justice Robert E. Mullen said. “Yet, here we are.”

Mullen issued a warrant for the arrest of Cheng, with no bail allowed, pending a future hearing. Mullen also ordered the default of $10,000 cash bail that Cheng posted previously.

The judge said that, while he had no reason to disbelieve the person who contacted Banda about Cheng’s whereabouts, he also had no way of knowing whether what the person told Banda was true.

District Attorney Maeghan Maloney, who is prosecuting the case instead of assigning it to one of her assistants, said “tremendous resources” had gone into the case to bring it to trial.

“The state is ready to go today, and it is disappointing Mr. Cheng is not here,” said Maloney, who serves as top prosecutor for Kennebec and Somerset counties.

Cheng was charged with Class B unlawful trafficking of scheduled drugs and Class B marijuana cultivation, both felonies, court records show.

Prosecutors also sought the forfeiture of $6,316 in cash and a 2022 Toyota Tacoma investigators seized during the March 1, 2024, raid of 795 Waterville Road.

Cheng was one of three people the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office arrested as a result of the bust. Investigators, assisted by federal agents, seized 4,760 cannabis plants found inside the property, Sheriff Dale Lancaster said at the time.

Lancaster said investigators observed black mold, electrical issues and possible environmental violations inside the home. He said the home had sparse living quarters.

Also arrested were Ying Xia Liao, 57, and Xi Qiang Zhao, 59, also from Brooklyn.

Zhao struck a deal with prosecutors in December 2024 in which he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor that was later dismissed per a deferred disposition agreement. Liao’s case remains pending, court records show.

The cases were three of 16 criminal matters filed in Somerset County during the crackdown on illegal grow houses in rural Maine. The raids, many of which were in Somerset County, began in early 2024 and continued into 2025.

Many busts resulted in arrests of people of Asian descent. Federal prosecutors, who at one point said such operations totaled 200, in Maine have pointed to a possible link to Chinese criminal organizations.

Until this spring, most of the Somerset County cases had been lingering on the court’s docket, in some cases for close to two years, in part because of the difficulty of finding Cantonese-English interpreters to facilitate the proceedings.

This spring, the courts called in interpreters from out of state to conduct a series of hearings in many of the pending cases. Cheng’s was one of those, as Banda sought to suppress his interview with police, which was assisted by a telephonic interpretation service.

In recent months, some of those charged in Somerset County in connection with the string of grow house busts have agreed to unique plea deals in which they pleaded guilty to an offense related to the disposal of hazardous waste. Prosecutors dismissed drug trafficking and marijuana cultivation charges. That, their defense attorneys said, would spare them from automatic deportation.

Those agreements required $10,000 donations; Maloney’s office awarded the money to area organizations this summer. They also required those who pleaded guilty, among other things, to stay out of Maine for one year.

Meanwhile, one man pleaded guilty to marijuana cultivation and avoided prison time, instead being ordered to pay a $10,000 fine. Another man pleaded guilty to marijuana cultivation earlier this month and was sentenced to 120 days in jail, which he already served after his arrest, and was ordered to pay a $6,000 fine. Both were U.S. citizens.