No new trial for China-born engineer in defense export conspiracy (Chi Mak faces up to 45 years)

AP on Bakersfield Californian ^ | 1/07/08 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

A federal judge denied a motion Monday for a new trial in the case of a Chinese-born engineer convicted of conspiring to export U.S. defense technology to China.

U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney rejected Chi Mak's motion after a hearing that included testimony from several defense witnesses.

Carney set Mak's sentencing for March 24. Mak could face up to 45 years in prison.

Mak, 67, was convicted last May of conspiring to export U.S. defense technology to China, including data on an electronic propulsion system that prosecutors said could make submarines virtually undetectable. A jury also found him guilty of acting as an unregistered foreign agent, attempting to violate export control laws and making false statements to the FBI.

Prosecutors had dropped a charge of the actual export of defense articles.

Mak, who worked for Anaheim-based defense contractor Power Paragon, was arrested in 2005 in Los Angeles after FBI agents stopped his brother and sister-in-law as they boarded a flight to Hong Kong.

Investigators said they found three encrypted CDs in their luggage that contained documents on the submarine propulsion system, a solid-state power switch for ships and a Power Point presentation on the future of power electronics.

His defense attorneys argued that during trial the prosecution introduced a complex audio-visual simulation of submarine quieting technology without giving them adequate time to review it.

They also argued that their No. 1 witness decided not to testify in Mak's defense after he was told by prosecutors that the government considered him a "subject" and that he could incriminate himself with his testimony.

[Auntie Mame]

Wow, if he had been mailing crack to a buddy in another state, he could have gotten even more time. Good thing he was only spying and stealing our technology for the Chinese.