Scientist to serve 51 months for giving technology to China

NORFOLK

A local scientist was sentenced Tuesday to 51 months in federal prison after admitting he passed space technology to China and bribed Chinese government officials to obtain what could have been a lucrative contract worth millions.

Quan-Sheng Shu, 69, pleaded guilty in the fall to two counts of violating the federal Arms Export Control Act and one count of bribery. He could have faced up to 25 years in prison.

To the American people, Shu offered "a very sincere I'm sorry," he told U.S. District Court Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr.

"I want to tell everybody I've never deliberately tried to harm anybody or the country," he said, speaking through a Chinese interpreter.

Shu, owner of AMAC International Inc. in Newport News, provided China assistance in the design and development of a cryogenic fueling system for space-launch vehicles to be used at China's space facility in Hainan.

The space-launch facility at Hainan houses liquid-propelled heavy payload launch vehicles designed to send space stations and satellites into orbit, as well as provide support for manned space flight and future lunar missions,

He offered $189,300 in bribes to get the contract and received a commission of $386,740 from an unidentified French company that acted as the go-between. Shu has since paid the federal government the $386,740 in restitution. The bribes were never paid.

Federal sentencing rules called for a prison term of up to seven years, which is what federal prosecutors sought. Shu's lawyer argued for no more than two years of incarceration.

Morgan essentially split the difference and might have gone even lower had Shu not hurt his case during his lengthy colloquy. Shu denied knowing that he was breaking the law when he tried to sell the technology to China. He also said he didn't knowing his bribe attempt was illegal.

"I had no intent to violate the American export law or violate national security interests," he told the judge.

He said he only offered the bribe after learning that competitors in Germany and Russia had first offered bribes to China.

"Had I known at that time that making an offer was a violation of the law, I never would have done that," he said. "I was thinking in the Chinese way."

But those comments contradict Shu's statements, made by e-mail and recorded phone calls, that the government captured during its investigation. He told his employees in Beijing to fax him details of the deal, instead of using e-mail, because of the U.S. restrictions on sending military technology to China.

"Everyone hides it," he said in one recorded phone call.

He was even recorded in a call to his wife, who told him not to leave any trace of the "kickbacks."

At the time of Shu's guilty plea, he admitted making the statements.

Shu's lawyer, James Broccoletti, said he wasn't aware that Shu had prepared Tuesday's remarks.

"That's not the statement I saw," Broccoletti said afterward.

Morgan wondered whether Shu was now "retreating" from his acceptance of responsibility, which shaved some time off his prison term. But in the end, he tacked on only five months above the recommended minimum sentence.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan M. Salsbury called the case part greed and part ego.

He said Shu shouldn't now "make any excuses for what he did."

"The harm caused to the United States calls for a severe penalty," he said.

Broccoletti said Shu's long history of success in the scientific community, his many accolades and awards, should account for something.

He said Shu has lost his business, his income, his respect in the community and most important, Shu has "lost face" in the Chinese community.

Shu, who was born in China and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1998, said "saving face is more important than life."

Morgan allowed Shu to remain free on bail. He ordered him to report to the U.S. Marshals Service by May 22 to begin serving his sentence.

Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com