Szuhsiung Ho, a nuclear engineer and naturalized U.S. citizen born in Taiwan, was sentenced Thursday to a prison term and a fine for conspiring to help the Chinese government produce unauthorized nuclear materials using U.S. expertise, the Justice Department said.
Ho received a two-year prison sentence and a year of supervised release, plus a $20,000 fine for violating the Atomic Energy Act by conspiring “to unlawfully engage or participate in the production or development of special nuclear material outside the U.S., without the required authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE),” DOJ said in a press release.
The 66 year-old Ho, also known as Allen, owned Energy Technology International. In April 2016, the Justice Department accused Ho of using the company for nearly 10 years, starting in 1997, to “procure” U.S.-based engineers to help China General Nuclear Power Company produce special nuclear material in that county.
“Today, Allen Ho is being held accountable for enlisting U.S.-based nuclear experts to provide assistance in developing and producing special nuclear material in China for a Chinese state-owned nuclear power company. He did so without the required authorization from the U.S. Department of Energy,” said Dana Boente, acting assistant attorney general for national security, said in the DOJ press release. “Prosecuting those who unlawfully facilitate the acquisition of sensitive nuclear technology by foreign nations continues to be a top priority of the National Security Division.”
Ho dodged a life sentence in the case.
