Sunday, April 29, 2012

Houston Resident Pleads Guilty to Charges of Intellectual Property Theft


HOUSTON—Wen-Long Huang, aka Joseph W. Huang, 62, a U.S. Citizen originally from Taiwan now residing in Houston, has pleaded guilty to theft of trade secrets, United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today. Huang was charged by criminal information on March 28, 2012. He surrendered and made his initial appearance two weeks later.

Today, Huang admitted he illegally copied and downloaded intellectual property, specifically product data sheets, belonging to his employer, Jet Products LLC, in an effort to economically benefit himself. Jet Products is a Houston-based company that develops and manufactures environmentally friendly building products to be used in residential and commercial construction.

United States District Judge Ewing Werlein, Jr., who accepted the guilty plea, has set sentencing for July 27, 2012. Huang was permitted to remain on bond pending that hearing, at which time he faces up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI-Cyber Crimes Unit and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Craig Feazel.

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