Federal judge sentences China television exec to 10 years in espionage case News
Federal judge sentences China television exec to 10 years in espionage case

[JURIST] US District Judge Cormac J. Carney of the Central District of California on Monday sentenced former Chinese television executive Tai Wang Mak [CI Centre backgrounder] to 10 years in prison for conspiring with his brother, Chi Mak, to smuggle sensitive naval intelligence data to China [JURIST news archive]. The US government indicted [text, PDF] Tai Mak, along with his brother and brother's wife, in November 2005 for both acting as, and failing to register as, an agent of a foreign government in violation of 18 USC 951 [text]. Chi Mak and his wife allegedly stole computer disks from his employer, defense contractor Power Paragon [corporate website], and copied sensitive information that Tai Mak and his wife were then to deliver to a contact in China. All four suspects were arrested on October 28, 2005, Tai Mak and his wife at Los Angeles International Airport and Chi Mak and his wife at their home in California.

Chi Mak was sentenced [JURIST report] last month to more than 24 years in prison [press release]. Tai Mak, his wife Fuk Li, and their son Billy Mak all pleaded guilty to charges [JURIST report] as part of a plea agreement [New York Sun report] in June 2007. Billy Mak and Fuk Li were sentenced to time served and face deportation back to China. Chi Mak's wife, Rebecca Laiwah Chiu, is scheduled to be sentenced in May. The New York Sun has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Montgomery started racially-integrated bus service after boycott

On December 21, 1956, buses in Montgomery, Alabama, started racially integrated service following federal court rulings ending on-board segregation. Bus boycott leaders Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy were among the first riders under the new scheme. Learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

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On December 21, 1879, Joseph Stalin was born in Gori, Georgia. In 1922, he became leader of the USSR until his death in 1953. During his time as Soviet dictator, Stalin industrialized his country, which he then led to become one of the world's two superpowers after WWII. Through his infamous purges, show trials and nationwide famines, Stalin also became responsible for millions of deaths.