Crime & Safety
Chinese National Pleads Guilty To Illegal Export Tech Manufacturing
The machine sent to China is used to process silicon wafer microchips.
SAN FRANCISCO — Illegal export of restricted U.S. technology to China resulted in a guilty plea to federal charges in San Francisco last week.
Lin Chen, 65, a citizen of the People's Republic of China, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to arranging the sale of a machine used in semiconductor manufacturing to a Chinese company, prosecutors said.
Under a plea agreement, Chen pleaded guilty to causing an unlawful export in violation of sanctions imposed by the U.S. government.
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Chen admitted to acting to procure a machine used to process silicon wafer microchips on behalf of Chengdu GaStone Technology Co., Ltd., according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for Northern California.
Such machines require a license for export to end-users such as GaStone. Chen worked with a co-defendant to conceal the sale of the machine to GaStone by shipping it in the name of another company, prosecutors said.
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The maximum statutory penalty for the violation is up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine, prosecutors said.
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