California Woman Faces Prison For Trying to Smuggle Military Jet Engines Into China

According to a Justice Department statement, a woman from San Diego was recently convicted for “conspiring to export and cause the export of fighter jet engines, an unmanned aerial vehicle – commonly known as a drone – and related technical data” to the Chinese government.

The 45-year-old woman was a naturalized citizen named Wenxia Man. She is now facing 50 months in prison after prosecutors provided evidence that between March of 2011 and June of 2013, she was in contact with who she said was a “technology spy” named Zhang Xinsheng. Among the technologies that she attempted to smuggle into China, were engines for the F-35, F-22, F-16 fighter jets, and the MQ-9 Predator UAV.

Man was caught after she spoke to an unnamed third-party, who alerted the authorities to her plan. That in turn led to an undercover investigation, which uncovered her communications with Zhang. Man was initially freed on a $250,000 bail, but was brought back to jail last year when she tried to text one of the federal agents involved in her case, after the agent testified against her.

This isn’t the first time in recent memory, that a naturalized US citizen was caught working for the Chinese government. Earlier this month, an electronics technician working for the FBI named Kun Shan Chun, admitted that he had handed over the identities and travel plans of several FBI agents to Chinese officials.