A Chinese citizen could face up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty Friday in U.S. federal court to attempting to illegally export a material that can be used in nuclear weapons programs, the Department of Justice announced.
Fuyi Sun, 53, violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by attempting to obtain and ship high-grade M60 carbon fiber without the necessary license. The material is largely employed for defense and aerospace purposes and is “strictly controlled” to deter its use in nuclear proliferation or terrorism, according to a DOJ press release. That includes requiring a license to export the carbon fiber to China.
Sun had sought carbon fiber for about six years and eventually made contact with a fake provider run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI), the release says. Over a period of years he on multiple occasions indicated means of avoiding U.S. intelligence while aiming to buy the material without a license. That included using the term “bananas” rather than “carbon fiber” when communicating with undercover agents, according to DOJ.
During a sting operation in April 2016 in New York, Sun indicated he would direct the material purchased from the undercover ICE agents to the Chinese military and that he had been involved with the nation’s missile program, the release says. Sun paid the undercover agents a total of $25,000 for two cases of carbon fiber on April 12, 2016, then was arrested one day later.
Sun’s sentencing is scheduled for July 26 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
M60 carbon fiber can be used in production of rotors for gas centrifuges, the Institute for Science and International Security said in a 2014 analysis of a 2012 illegal export case.
