Chinese sleeper agent convicted

“A Chinese American engineer was found guilty Thursday of conspiring to send information about U.S. Navy technology to China that would make it easier to detect U.S. submarines. Chi Mak, a naturalized citizen, was convicted of conspiracy to violate export control laws, attempting to violate export control laws, acting as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China, and lying to the FBI. After six weeks of testimony in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, the jury deliberated less than three days. ‘We were confident about this case from the start,’ said Assistant U.S. Atty. Gregory W. Staples. Prosecutors described Mak as a sleeper agent who began preparing for his assignment in the U.S. in the 1960s, when he moved from China to Hong Kong, then a British colony. Federal agents said Mak admitted sending military-related documents to China and they found thousands of pages of the files in his home.”