A Chinese professor accused of stealing US technology in favor of the Chinese company Huawei is preparing to return home, although he was sentenced on Monday for lying to the FBI.
Bo Mao was sentenced to long prison terms by US District Judge Pamela Chen in Brooklyn, after pleading guilty on December 4.
The prosecutors, who supported the verdict, dropped the more serious conspiracy charge, despite his lack of remorse.
Mao was a visiting professor at the University of Texas at Arlington when he was arrested in August 2019. He is due to return to China on Wednesday.
Prosecutors said Mao had agreed with a California tech company, which later turned out to be CNEX Laboratories in Silicon Valley, to acquire its circuit board for academic research purposes, but ultimately shared the proprietary information with Huawei.
Judge Chen said that although Mao pleaded guilty only to lying, his criminal behavior was "much broader and much worse," and that by leaving for China, he "could be considered a national hero" there.
But it made clear that Mao's motivation to commit the crime was indirect benefit, through a possible career promotion.
Married with two children, Mao said through an interpreter that his family has been subjected to "a lot of stress" and is looking forward to his return home quickly.
Mao's arrest came amid a crackdown by the Ministry of Justice against suspected Chinese influence in US universities, including through espionage and intellectual property theft.
In 2018, the US government accused Huawei and its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou of misleading banks about the company's ties to Iran.
And in February, Huawei was accused of conspiracy and extortion to steal trade secrets.
Huawei pleaded not guilty.
In Canada, Meng was facing charges of fraud and illegal bank transfer, which she denies.
Her case has strained relations between the United States, China and Canada.