Chinese Engineer Sentenced to 24 1/2 Years in Prison
By Associated Press | March 25, 2008
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A Chinese-born engineer convicted of conspiracy to export American defense technology to China was sentenced yesterday to 241/2 years in federal prison by a judge who said the defendant betrayed his adopted country.
Chi Mak, 67, a naturalized American citizen who worked on naval propulsion systems, was also convicted of acting as an unregistered foreign agent, attempting to violate export control laws and making false statements to the FBI.
Federal prosecutors asked for 30 years, while Mak's defense team proposed 10 years.
Mak asked U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney for leniency before sentencing. Four of Mak's relatives, including his wife, pleaded guilty last year to related offenses in exchange for leniency.
