A California woman has been sentenced to 50 months in prison for attempting to sell drones and other military equipment to China.
Wenxia Man, also known as Wency Man, 45, of San Diego, was sentenced Aug. 19 after being convicted in June of conspiring to export and cause the export of defense items without a license, according to a Department of Justice news release.
"According to evidence presented at trial, between approximately March 2011 and June 2013, Man conspired with Xinsheng Zhang, who was located in China, to illegally acquire and export to China defense articles including: Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 engines used in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter; Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 turbofan engines used in the F-22 Raptor fighter jet; General Electric F110-GE-132 engines designed for the F-16 fighter jet; the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper/Predator B Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, capable of firing Hellfire Missiles; and technical data for each of these defense articles," the Justice Department said. "During the course of the investigation, when talking to an undercover HSI [Homeland Security Investigations] agent, Man referred to Zhang as a 'technology spy' who worked on behalf of the Chinese military to copy items obtained from other countries and stated that he was particularly interested in stealth technology."
Michael Peck is a correspondent for Defense News and a columnist for the Center for European Policy Analysis. He holds an M.A. in political science from Rutgers University. Find him on X at @Mipeck1. His email is mikedefense1@gmail.com.
