A Painted Post man has been convicted by a federal jury of stealing trade secrets from Corning Inc. and trying to sell the information to China.
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, 63-year-old Ji Wang was found guilty of two counts of economic espionage, one count of theft of trade secrets, one count of attempted economic espionage and one count of attempted theft of trade secrets.
Prosecutors told the jury that Wang stole sensitive defense research involving fiber optics from Corning Inc. while he was employed by the company.
The research was tied to a project involving DARPA, the technology research and development arm for the US Department of Defense.
Prosecutors said Wang was negotiating with firms connected to the Chinese government to start a specialized fiber business in exchange for investments worth tens of millions of dollars.
Wang faces up to 15 years in prison for the espionage charge and up to 10 years for the theft of trade secrets. He will be sentenced in April.
