General Motors feels no mercy toward a Troy couple who sold hybrid technology trade secrets to a Chinese auto manufacturer.
Former GM engineer Shanshan Du and her husband, Yu Qin, were convicted five months ago in U.S. District court in Detroit. Ed White of Associated Press reports that John Calabrese, GM vice president for global vehicle engineering, recommends "the maximum allowable sentence" of eight to 10 years at sentencing Tuesday.
"There is a clear and well-recognized need for the United States government, including its courts, to take aggressive steps to deter others from stealing the type of vital technology at issue in this matter," said Calabese.
At Automotive News. Vince Bon Jr. gives details of the industrial espionage case:
Du, who was hired in 2000 as an engineer for GM's Advanced Technology Vehicles Group in suburban Detroit, copied 16,262 documents covering hybrid vehicles on a thumb drive in February 2005 -- about five days after being offered a severance agreement. Of the more than 16,000 documents Du copied, 18 contained trade secrets.
The government accused Du of seeking a transfer within GM to get access to hybrid technology and said she began copying documents by the end of 2003, according to AP. Her husband was convicted as an accomplice.
