SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - A Chinese-born engineer convicted of conspiracy to
export U.S. defense technology to China was sentenced Monday to 24 1/2 years in
federal prison.
Chi Mak, 67, was also convicted last year of acting as an unregistered
foreign agent, attempting to violate export control laws and making false
statements to the FBI.
He worked on highly sensitive submarine propulsion systems in his job as an
engineer for the Anaheim-based naval defense contractor Power Paragon.
Mak was arrested in late 2005 in Los Angeles after FBI agents stopped his
brother and sister-in-law as they boarded a flight to Hong Kong and Guangzhou,
China.
Investigators said they found three encrypted CDs in their luggage that
contained documents on a submarine propulsion system, a solid-state power switch
for ships and a PowerPoint presentation on the future of power electronics.
Mak sought a new trial earlier this year, but a judge rejected the request.
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