Space Shuttle Spy Gets 15 Years

goG writes "A Chinese-born engineer was sentenced Monday to more than 15 years in prison for hoarding sensitive information about the US space shuttle with the intent of giving it to China. US District Judge Cormac Carney called Chung's crimes a matter of national security, saying he had committed a breach against the trust Boeing and the country had placed in him. Attorney Greg Staples said, 'The [People's Republic of China] is bent on stealing sensitive information from the United States and shows no sign of relenting. Only strong sentences offer any hope of dissuading others from helping the PRC get that technology.' Staples also 'noted in sentencing papers that Chung amassed a personal wealth of more than $3 million US while betraying his adopted country.'"

Re:Ha, he should get a medal

[LWATCDR]

Actually the SSME are still some of the most advanced liquid fueled engines flying today. The ET uses ALLI alloy and also very advanced and the SRB are the most powerful solid fuel boosters ever flown.
Throw in the fact that the Shuttle probably has the most hypersonic flight time of any vehicle and you have a really treasure trove of useful information.
Yes the Shuttle was too expensive per flight but really is a technological marvel an one that has produced a lot very useful knowledge.

Re:Jsut make it open

[SirGarlon]

The space shuttle is defense related. It's been used in about 10 classified missions [wikipedia.org], presumably having something to do with spy satellites.

Moreover I would speculate that the avionics systems, materials, high-pressure pumps, and other technology that went into the space shuttle would be both non-obvious and directly applicable to military aircraft and/or missiles.

Re:Why not the death penalty?

[L3370]

It's not so easy to carry the death penalty for treasonous crimes here in the U.S. because treason has to be witnessed and confirmed by no less than 2 people. Treason was one of crimes that the US founders decided to go heavy with detail. They understood the treason argument was an effective tool for tyrants, so they wanted to be very clear on the subject.

Re:15 years?

[TheDarkMinstrel]

He had a trial and was found guilty. Then sentenced to 15 years... instead of the death penalty.

Re:15 years?

[JoshuaZ]

Actually, the treason clause in the Constitution says nothing at all about needing to be a US citizen. However, the Constitution does say that "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort." It goes to say that a conviction of treason can only occur based on the testimony of two witnesses to an "overt act" or a confession in open court. Since we are not in a state of war with China, it would be very hard to classify China as an "Enemy" for this purpose. And there's no way you'd have the two witnesses in this case (incidentally, the two witness requirement is one of the very few examples of Biblical influence on the Constitution which otherwise shows largely more Roman, Greek and later ideas as the primary influence). We have separate laws against spying for a reason. So we don't need to try to get people for treason which is (correctly) next to impossible to do.

Re:15 years?

[Jeremy Erwin]

From wikipedia: [wikipedia.org]

Under the law of the United Kingdom, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the sovereign amounting to an intention to undermine their authority, or the attempt to do so. Offences constituting high treason include plotting the murder of the sovereign; having sexual intercourse with the sovereign's consort, with his eldest unmarried daughter, or with the wife of the heir to the throne; levying war against the sovereign and adhering to the sovereign's enemies, giving them aid or comfort; and attempting to undermine the lawfully established line of succession. Several other crimes have historically been categorised as high treason, including counterfeiting money and being a Catholic priest.

Very broad, and historically a means of keeping down democrats. In the United States, treason was defined narrowly, so as to forestall abuses. The crimes of sedition and espionage have been used to fill the void, though if Michelle Obama wanted some action on the side, that would be her business, not the state's.

Re:He got away with it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Which is exactly why we should go after his kids. They should be sitting it jail next to him, whether they did anything or not.

Sound unfair? This is EXACTLY how the United States treats drug dealers and other petty criminals. If someone skips bail, their family members are arrested. If they can't get the son, they go after the mother, etc. If they didn't do anything, they make things up (it's near-impossible to sue to police for false arrest).

Re:Ha, he should get a medal

[DerekLyons]

Throw in the fact that the Shuttle probably has the most hypersonic flight time of any vehicle and you have a really treasure trove of useful information.

By the time of STS-5, the Shuttle had accumulated more hypersonic flight than all other US programs to date combined. Even with the test programs run since then, the Shuttle still represent better than 99% of our hypersonic flight experience according to an aerodynamicist I know.

Re:Ha, he should get a medal

[Lumpy]

No they learned it from us...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_program [wikipedia.org]

Re:He got away with it.

[WindBourne]

If somebody is arrested, then they will either be held, or be released. If released, then they will be either released on their own, OR they have to post a bail. The bail says that if you skip the process, that you forfeit the money. Now, families can chose to put up the car, the house, etc for the bail. BUT, if that person skips out, then those things are forfeit. That is NOT making somebody else responsible for the sins. That is somebody else saying that I took responsibility and did not do a good job. And NO, they do not arrest other family members or make things up.
OTH, ACs on /. LOVE to make things up. Obviously you are one of those. Basically, you have shown that you have no sense of ethics. I am guessing that you are a registered neo-con.

Re:15 years?

[magarity]

The PRC don't execute all American spies they catch...See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hainan_Island_incident [wikipedia.org]
 
Whoa there; in international treaties "spies" are people pretending to be innocent while stealing secrets at night. The uniformed military personnel who crash landed on Hainan Island were certainly conducting military surveillance but there wasn't anything clandestine about what they were doing. They weren't "spies" except in sensationalist media reports. Heck, the day after they were released the Navy started re-flying that exact same route with jets the Chinese couldn't intercept.