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NEW YORK (AP) – A Chinese professor accused of stealing US technology to benefit China’s Huawei Technologies plans to return to his home country after being sentenced Monday for lying to the FBI.
Despite expressing no remorse, Bo Mao was sentenced to time served by US District Judge Pamela Chen in Brooklyn, following his conviction on December 4. Prosecutors, who supported the sentence, dropped a more serious wire fraud conspiracy charge.
Mao was a visiting professor at the University of Texas at Arlington when he was arrested in August 2019. He is scheduled to return to China on Wednesday.
Prosecutors said Mao arranged with a California tech company, later proven to be Silicon Valley’s CNEX Labs, to obtain his circuit board ostensibly for academic research, but ultimately shared proprietary information with Huawei.
Chen said that while Mao pleaded guilty only to lying, his criminal conduct was “much broader and much worse,” and that he “could even be considered a patriot” at home.
The judge also noted the lack of remorse expressed by Mao. “I’m disappointed by that, frankly,” she said.
However, Chen said that Mao’s role was minor and that he seemed to benefit only indirectly, including through possible career advancement.
Mao, a married father of two who teaches at Xiamen University, said through an interpreter that his family had been through “a lot of stress” and was looking forward to returning home quickly.
His arrest came amid a Justice Department crackdown on alleged Chinese influence in American universities, including through espionage and theft of intellectual property.
In 2018, the US government accused Huawei and its CFO Meng Wanzhou of misleading banks about the company’s ties to Iran. In February, he charged Huawei with extortion conspiracy and conspiracy to steal trade secrets.
Huawei has pleaded not guilty. Meng has been fighting Vancouver’s extradition to face bank and wire fraud charges, which she denies. His case has strained ties between the United States, China and Canada.
