Kan Chen, 26, of Ningbo, China, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Delaware to 30 months in prison and three years’ supervised release for selling sophisticated night-vision scopes for rifles and other equipment.
Chen has been jailed since June 16, when he was arrested by Homeland Security Investigation agents on the Northern Mariana Island of Saipan following an eight-month long investigation On March 2, Chen pled guilty to the offenses.
According to court documents, from July 2013 through his arrest in June 2015, Chen was working to export more than 180 export-controlled items, valued at over $275,000, from the United States to China.
Over 40 of those items – purchased at a cost of over $190,000 – were sophisticated night vision and thermal imaging scopes.
Prosecutors said Chen devised a scheme to smuggle these items through Delaware and outside the United States.
He purchased the devices via the internet and telephone and had the gear mailed to several reshipping services in New Castle.
The Delaware-based service companies provide an American shipping address for customers located in China, accept packages for their customers, and then re-ship them to China.
In order to conceal his illegal activity, Chen arranged for the re-shippers to send the devices to several intermediary individuals, who in turn forwarded the devices to Chen in China.
One of the pieces of equipment, the ATN ThOR 640-5x, 640×480-Inch Thermal Weapon Scope, which Chen purchased for $8,428 is described by the manufacturer as “an ideal product for force protection, border patrol officers, police SWAT and special operations forces providing them the tools they need to be successful in all field operations both day and night. Uncooled thermal imaging cuts through dust, smoke, fog, haze, and other battlefield obscurants.”
Prosecutors said Chen’s conduct was particularly harmful, because he sold this military technology indiscriminately. Thus, it could have ended up in any number of nefarious hands – including agents of foreign governments, bad actors, and brokers.
Once these rifle scopes were exported to China and distributed by Chen to his customers, the military technology contained inside these items could have been reversed engineered or used anywhere in the world.
Prior to issuing her sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Sue L. Robinson remarked that Chen’s case “was a sobering reflection of the world we live in” and that “the consequences [of Chan’s actions] were truly perilous.”
Gregory C. Nevano, acting Special Agent in Charge of HSI Philadelphia, stated, “These sophisticated technologies are highly sought after by our adversaries. They were developed to give the United States and its allies a distinct military advantage, which is why HSI will continue to aggressively target the individuals who might illegally procure and sell these items.”
