Jail for US Navy officer Fan Yang, who bought guns for Chinese national
- The lieutenant was found guilty of obtaining two pistols for his wife’s employer, Ge Songtao, the head of a Chinese defence contracting firm
- Yang bought a Sig Sauer 9mm and a Glock 9mm, claiming the firearms were for himself; he also lied about his relationship with Ge
A US Navy flight officer convicted last year of lying about his purchase of two pistols for a Chinese national was sentenced on Wednesday to four years in prison.
Fan Yang, a 37-year-old lieutenant in the US Navy trained in anti-submarine warfare, was found guilty by a federal court jury in Florida of buying the guns for the head of a Chinese defence contracting firm who employed his wife.
“(Lieutenant) Fan Yang swore an oath to protect this country, but instead he posed a significant risk to US national security when he failed to report his contact with the head of a Chinese defence contracting firm,” Sherri Onks, FBI special agent in charge of the agency’s Jacksonville field office, said in a written statement.
“This act was even more egregious considering Lieutenant Yang’s Top Secret security clearance and active-duty status as an officer in the US Navy,” Onks said.
Prosecutors say the Chinese national, Ge Songtao, hired Yang’s wife for his company, Shanghai Breeze Technology Co. Ltd, in 2016 and ultimately paid her more than US$300,000.
In 2017 and 2018 Yang bought two firearms for Ge, a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol and a Glock 9mm pistol, falsely representing that the guns were for himself, according to prosecutors.
Yang also lied about his relationship with Ge on a background questionnaire he was required to sign as part of his security clearance for the Navy, prosecutors say.