30-Year Sentence Sought in China Spy Case

Federal prosecutors want an electrical engineer to serve more than 30 years in prison for transferring submarine technology to the People's Republic of China.

The 30-year, five-month term sought by the Justice Department likely would amount to a life sentence for Chi Mak, 67, who was convicted by a jury last year on five felony counts, including conspiring to export defense technology without a license and acting as an unregistered foreign agent.

"The United States relies on the loyalty and honesty of individuals to abide by the oath they take to protect those secrets. Defendant took an oath to protect those secrets and betrayed it," prosecutors wrote in a court filing yesterday. "Thirty years is just punishment for a traitor."

A probation officer recommended a term of nearly 20 years, while Mak's lawyers are asking that he be sentenced to 10 years.

"There will be nothing gained by sentencing this man to the rest of his life in prison," Mak's lawyers wrote. "He was not convicted of espionage, he was not convicted of treason, he was not convicted of a violent crime." Citing his contributions to American military technology during his career at a defense contractor, the defense called a 20-year sentence "excessive and inhumane."

Judge Cormac Carney is scheduled to sentence Mak in Santa Ana, Calif., on March 24.

Four of Mak's family members entered guilty pleas to related charges. Mak's wife, Rebecca Chieu, has agreed to serve three years and be stripped of her American citizenship. His brother, Tai, could get up to 10 years.

Last month, a former Boeing engineer, Dongfan Chung, 72, was indicted for giving China secrets about the space shuttle and other projects. He has pleaded not guilty. In a letter found in Mr. Chung's home, a Chinese official said Mak could serve as a safe channel for Mr. Chung to send data to China.