Federal Court Sentences Chinese National to Two Years in Prison for Illegally Exporting Marine Tech

A district court judge in Massachusetts sentenced Chinese national Shuren Qin to two years in prison for exporting hydrophones with anti-submarine applications to a Chinese military university on the Commerce Department's Entity List, in a Sept. 1 sentencing memorandum. Judge Denise Casper carried out the sentencing and also ruled that Qin will be placed on supervised release for two years following his prison sentence and will pay a fine of $20,000 (United States v. Shuren Qin, D.C. Mass. #18-10205).

The government prosecution said in its sentencing memorandum that Qin knew that the university was on the Entity List and endangered U.S. national security to "further his business interests and satisfy a 'VIP' customer." Qin later lied to federal agents about the illegal exports, other dealings with another Chinese military university and other aspects of his business, called LinkOcean Technologies Ltd., the U.S. said in originally seeking seven-and-a-half years in prison for Qin.

Qin was charged in 2018 for selling and shipping the oceanographic instruments to Northwestern Polytechnical University between 2015 and 2016. He was accused of lying to a U.S. supplier about the end-target of the shipment and failing to obtain the proper export license for the hydrophones. Of all the prosecution's charges, Qin only pleaded guilty to shipping 60 hydrophones worth around $100,000.