Chinese student pleads guilty to violating U.S. espionage act

NORFOLK, Virginia  (Nikkei Asia)-- A Chinese student pleaded guilty to misdemeanor espionage charges at a federal courthouse here on Monday for taking photographs of U.S. military infrastructure using a drone.

Shi Fengyun, a 26-year-old graduate student from the University of Minnesota, walked into the courtroom in a light green and gray jacket and sports pants. He appeared nervous, taking several deep breaths while shaking his legs before he entered his plea.

Shi pleaded guilty to two out of six counts of violations under two provisions of the Espionage Act, which prohibits the photography of military installations and the use of unregistered drones to do so in national defense airspace. The U.S. Department of Justice dismissed the remaining four counts.

"According to our own research, this is a rare charge," Magistrate Judge Lawrence Leonard said on Monday at the Walter E. Hoffman Courthouse in Norfolk, Virginia. Shi could face up to two years in prison for the two charges and fines of $100,000 per count.

The judge ordered an investigation into Shi's circumstances in order to decide his sentencing, which could come in late August or September.

Prosecutors said the student flew a drone near the Newport News Shipyard in Virginia on Jan. 6 and took pictures of U.S. naval vessels with classified systems that were still in the design process.

After flying to Virginia and renting a vehicle, Shi was alleged to have flown his drone in the area in bad weather, before it got stuck in a tree on private land. A resident called local authorities after taking photos of Shi, his identification card and the license plate of his rental car, according to the affidavit filed by the FBI.

Shi was asked why he was flying the drone given the poor weather conditions and why he was flying in the area.

Prosecutors alleged Shi appeared "very nervous" in body camera footage, and "did not have any real reasons for why he was flying the drone" during bad weather. After Shi abandoned his drone, the FBI seized it and discovered photos and videos of U.S. naval vessels with sensitive systems, some that were still in the design and construction phase.

Mary Ellen O'Connell, professor of law and international peace studies at the University of Notre Dame, explained that if someone had accidentally captured photos of military installations while flying a drone, then authorities would let it go.

But several factors surrounding Shi may have led prosecutors into believing they had a case, according to O'Connell: a Chinese national, a sensitive location and sensitive data from the drone.

The prosecutors heavily questioned Shi's motives, in part because the shipyard is the only one in the area, according to court documents.

Shi's case is highly unusual as the two Espionage Act provisions are rarely used as the basis of prosecution, according to a review of court documents.

The only similar case the court could find related to an incident from over a decade ago in Long Island, when East Quogue resident Nancy Genovese sued the local government over her arrest for taking photos outside an Air National Guard base in Westhampton with a gun in her car.

Genovese said she had come from a shooting range nearby and was taking photos of the helicopter for a patriotic website. The charge against her was dismissed by the court, but she sued the government, alleging her arrest violated the constitution and caused her economic loss as well as physical and mental suffering. Genovese was awarded $1.12 million over false prosecution.

Misdemeanors are considered less serious than felonies. O'Connell said Shi's case had not become an espionage trial because the photos he took were not that sensitive and he was outside the facilities.

While authorities could deport Shi after sentencing, Shaoming Cheng, his lawyer, called for leniency. "If he's removed, he can't finish school ... Shi's family spent a lot of time and money on his master's program," Cheng told the judge, adding that Shi had two courses left in his master's program.

Shi is out on bond, but cannot leave Virginia. Cheng said in court that he would file for a motion requesting the court to allow him to leave the state in order to return to class in August, but would first need clarity on whether the school would allow him to return.

The University of Minnesota did not respond to a request for comment. Cheng declined to comment when asked by Nikkei Asia.

O'Connell said that the case should not be interpreted as the U.S. government's suspicion of foreign nationals as spies because historically, "some of the most destructive spies are American citizens."

Instead, the case should serve as a wakeup call for the U.S. government that it should better protect its military installations and enhance security by "setting up barriers that could jam the signal" and ground drones when they enter a given perimeter, said O'Connell.

"We need to update our military systems and technology," she said.