Stealing Trade Secrets to Benefit China, Michigan Chemist Sentenced to 14-year Jail Term
May 10, 2022 | Michigan
A federal judge has sentenced a China-born American chemist to 14 years in prison for stealing trade secrets, engaging in economic espionage, and committing fraud.
You Xiaorong, also known as Shannon You, of Lansing, Michigan, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge J. Ronnie Greer in Greeneville, Tennessee on May 9, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Besides the jail term, the department said the 60-year-old former Coca-Cola employee was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay a $200,000 fine.
In April 2021, You was convicted of conspiracy to commit trade secret theft, conspiracy to commit economic espionage, possession of stolen trade secrets, economic espionage, and wire fraud, after trying to set up a Chinese company that would manufacture products based on stolen technology for the global market.
“The defendant stole valuable trade secrets and intended to use them to benefit not only a foreign company but also the government of China,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division… (Excerpt from the Epoch Times)
