Chinese National Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Economic Espionage

A Chinese national pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit economic espionage.

According to the DOJ, the individual admitted to stealing a trade secret from an international company based in St. Louis, transferring it to a memory card and attempting to take it to China for the benefit of the Chinese government. The individual was employed by the company and one of its subsidiaries from 2008 to 2017 as an imaging scientist, and the trade secret pertained to agricultural software technology used by American farmers to improve crop yields. The DOJ stated that the individual traveled to China after his employment with the company ended, and was arrested upon returning to the United States.

The individual pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit economic espionage and is facing (i) a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, (ii) a potential fine of $5 million and (iii) supervised release of up to three years.