From the Los Angeles Times

Engineer sentenced to 24 years in China conspiracy case

A federal judge says Chi Mak, 67, of Downey betrayed the U.S. by conspiring to export sensitive defense technology.

By H.G. Reza
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

12:44 PM PDT, March 24, 2008

A Chinese-born engineer convicted of conspiracy to export U.S. defense technology to China was sentenced this morning in Santa Ana to 24 years and five months in federal prison.

In sentencing Chi Mak, 67, of Downey, U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney said Mak had betrayed the United States by his actions. Mak 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.

"I don't know how much damage he did to us," Carney said before imposing sentence. The judge also said Mak had lied in his testimony during the trial and to federal agents who questioned him after his arrest.

His defense had asked for a 10-year sentence, while the government sought more than 30 years.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Greg Staples said Mak spied for the Chinese, though he was never charged with espionage. Mak was convicted of passing unclassified but sensitive information to the Chinese about U.S. naval technology.

Staples said the fact that the information Mak gave to China was unclassified did not diminish the damage done to the United States. Witnesses testified that some materials could be bought from the website of the American Society of Naval Engineers until the government put a stop to it.

Mak expressed his love and loyalty to the United States in a brief statement to the court.

"I never intended to violate any law at all. I never intended to hurt this country," Mak said. "I love this country. I still hope for justice."

Mak was an electrical engineer at Anaheim-based Power Paragon, a firm that works mostly on Navy contracts. The FBI watched him for about 18 months, using cameras, wiretaps and microphones hidden in his car and work cubicle.

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.

The Associated Press was used in compiling this report.