Dual U.S.–China citizen sentenced for stealing missile-detection trade secrets

A dual citizen of the United States and China has been sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison for stealing trade secrets related to U.S. missile-detection technology from a Southern California defense contractor, according to federal prosecutors.

The sentence was handed down on Monday, when 59-year-old Chenguang Gong of San Jose was ordered to serve 46 months in prison, pay $77,408 in restitution, and pay a $100,000 fine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.

Prosecutors said Gong, a dual citizen of the United States and China, transferred more than 3,600 files from his employer, identified in court documents as a Los Angeles-area research and development company, to his own storage devices during a brief period in 2023.

According to prosecutors, the stolen material included blueprints for sophisticated infrared sensors designed for space-based systems used to detect nuclear missile launches and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles.

Other files involved sensors that help U.S. military aircraft detect incoming heat-seeking missiles and deploy countermeasures, including jamming infrared tracking systems.

Gong worked for the company from January 2023 until his termination on April 26, 2023. Prosecutors said he began transferring files on March 30 and continued doing so after accepting a job at one of the victim company’s main competitors. More than 1,800 files were copied after he had secured his next position.

Many of the files contained proprietary and export-controlled information marked with labels such as “PROPRIETARY INFORMATION,” “FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY,” and “EXPORT CONTROLLED.”

Investigators also uncovered earlier efforts by Gong to align himself with Chinese government-backed recruitment initiatives.

According to court documents, between 2014 and 2022, Gong submitted multiple applications to talent programs administered by the People’s Republic of China, which seek to attract individuals with advanced scientific and technological expertise.

In a 2019 email translated from Chinese, he wrote that he “took a risk” by traveling to China while employed by an American defense contractor and believed he could “do something” to contribute to China’s “high-end military integrated circuits.”

The FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, and Homeland Security Investigations led the investigation, with assistance from the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.