Federal jury convicts retired UT professor

…Roth, who was indicted in May 2008, was found guilty of allowing two foreign national graduate assistants, Xin Dai of China and Sirous Nourgostar of Iran, access to information about a U.S. Air Force defense project.  The former electrical and computer engineering professor now faces more than 150 years in prison. The sentence hearing is set for Jan. 7, 2009.  The project involving work on plasma actuators for Air Force drones was awarded to Knoxville firm Atmospheric Glow Technologies Inc., where Roth served as a subcontractor. It was there the two foreign students had access to the military project.  Daniel Max Sherman, former AGT employee and UT physicist, pleaded guilty to related charges in April when he struck a plea deal and agreed to aid in a probe of the company and Roth. AGT also pleaded guilty to 10 counts of exporting classified material. Sentencing for both cases is still pending.  Roth was also accused of taking reports of the project to China during a lecture tour in 2006. The indictment alleged that Roth did not have permission to take the classified documents to China and that he lied about the employment of Dai and Nourgostar…..(Tennessee Journalist, 4 Sep 08)

Prosecutors hope retired Professor Roth's conviction a deterrent

That was the message two federal prosecutors hope will be sent by a jury's conviction Wednesday of University of Tennessee professor emeritus J. Reece Roth.  "We think this case is being watched nationally," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Theodore said following a federal jury's conclusion that Roth, 73, violated the Arms Export Control Act by using foreign graduate students to work on a defense contract. "We believe this case could actually have a significant deterrent effect." Added Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Mackie, "National security issues matter and should be everyone's concern, even among those in an academic setting. We believe the vast majority of universities and professors are careful with what they're doing. By bringing this case, we're trying to underline when things go wrong, we're paying attention…..(Knoxville News, 4 Sep 08)

U.S. professor guilty in military secrets case

…The professor, Reese Roth, is a plasma scientist who was hired to work on a U.S. Air Force research contract by privately held firm, Atmospheric Glow Technologies Inc, of Knoxville, Tennessee. The company pleaded guilty last month to illegally providing a Chinese national, Xin Dai, with data used in developing an unmanned aerial weapons system. Xin Dai was Roth's research assistant. Another former Atmospheric Glow employee, Daniel Sherman, pleaded guilty in April to charges of conspiring with Roth to export the data… Roth is scheduled for sentencing in January. He was accused of passing information to Xin Dai and of carrying documents containing data about unmanned aerial systems to China without an export license.  U.S. intelligence services in recent years have accused China of increasing spying operations in the United States to collect military and economic secrets. A former Boeing engineer, charged in February with stealing space shuttle secrets for China, pleaded guilty in July to unauthorized possession of defense information…..(Reuters, 3 Sep 08)

Retired University of Tennessee Professor Convicted of Arms Export Violations

On Wednesday, September 3, 2008, a federal jury convicted retired University of Tennessee professor Dr. J. Reece Roth, after a seven day trial, of illegally exporting military technical information relating to plasma technology designed to be deployed on the wings of drones operating as a weapons or surveillance systems.

The Arms Export Control Act prohibits the export of defense-related materials, including the technical data, to a foreign national or a foreign nation, without the required U.S. government license. The illegal arms exports by Dr. Roth related to technical data and information that was developed through a U.S. Air Force research and development contract to develop this advanced form of a drone.  Dr. Roth was specifically convicted of one count of conspiring with Atmospheric Glow Technology, Inc., a Knoxville, Tennessee, technology company, to unlawfully export in 2005 and 2006 fifteen different "defense articles" to a citizen of the People's Republic of China in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. He was also convicted of 15 counts of violating the Arms Export Control Act and one count of wire fraud relating to defrauding the University of Tennessee of the honest services by illegally exporting sensitive military information relating to this U.S. Air Force contract…..(PR Newswire, 4 Sep 08)

Professor Is Convicted Of Sharing Technology

A federal jury in Knoxville, Tenn., convicted a retired university professor on conspiracy, wire fraud and export control charges yesterday for improperly sharing sensitive technology with students from China and Iran. Plasma physicist J. Reece Roth, 70, faces more than a decade in prison when he is sentenced early next year. Prosecutors say the professor emeritus at the University of Tennessee exchanged restricted military data with foreign research assistants and traveled overseas with electronic versions of sensitive materials on his laptop computer. The case is the latest in a series involving the Arms Export Control Act. It also is among the first in which the government sought to punish a defendant for distributing scientific know-how rather than equipment to foreigners studying at universities with military research contracts…..(Washington Post, 4 Sep 08)

J. Reece Roth's mind-set on trial

University of Tennessee professor emeritus J. Reece Roth either was too arrogant to comply with laws designed to keep foreign eyes from peeking at sensitive military data or too naive to know when he should.  That line of demarcation was clearly drawn Tuesday as dueling attorneys sought to sway a federal jury deciding whether Roth plotted with a Knoxville technology firm to violate the Arms Export Control Act, repeatedly allowed two foreign national graduate students access to information on a U.S. Air Force project and took data about it to China in May 2006.  Jurors deliberated some five hours before U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan sent them home for the night. They will return today to continue… Roth ran afoul of the law when he agreed to serve as a subcontractor on an Air Force project awarded to Atmospheric Glow Technologies Inc. that involved the use of plasma actuators on drones.  AGT and ex-employee Daniel Max Sherman, a physicist and former Roth student, have pleaded guilty……(Knoxville News, 3 Sep 08)

Chinese national student, Xin Dai,  says he was unaware of secrecy laws

If federal prosecutors are right, University of Tennessee professor emeritus J. Reece Roth knowingly put a naive, starry-eyed graduate student (Xin Dai) in the center of a criminal conspiracy that could have robbed the Chinese national of his future… J. Reece Roth is standing trial this week on charges that he plotted with employees of Knoxville firm Atmospheric Glow Technologies Inc. to give Xin access to information on the design of a device being developed for use on a U.S. Air Force drone.  Xin worked as a researcher in the UT Plasma Research laboratory supervised by Roth and was directed by Roth to work on the drone project, which the Air Force had awarded to AGT. That firm, in turn, subcontracted with Roth… Xin, who now has a doctorate and works in Arizona, said he knew nothing about the law at issue when he began working on the project.  "At the time, I had no idea what export control data was," he told jurors in U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan's courtroom.  Xin said Roth was considered a plasma-researching rock star in China…..(Knoxville, 28 Aug 08)

More Revelations in Roth Trial

…the trial of Professor J. Reece Roth for violation of the Arms Export Control Act continued today with the testimony of Daniel Max Sherman, the only officer of Atmospheric Glow Technologies (”AGT”) to be indicted in the matter. AGT was the company that contracted Professor Roth to work on the military UAV contract during the course of which it is alleged that Professor Roth disclosed controlled technical data on the project to a Chinese graduate student. Sherman previously pleaded guilty to export violations in connection with his involvement in the project and, it would appear, there is no love lost between Sherman and Professor Roth or between Sherman and his former employer.  According to Sherman, the proverbial [insert expletive here] hit the fan when Roth went to AGT and indicated that, in addition to the Chinese grad student already working on the project, he wanted an Iranian graduate student to the work on the project……(Export Law Blog, 27 Aug 08)

Firm in hot seat at Roth trial

Faced with a federal probe and a public scandal, a Knoxville technology firm tried to head off both with hardball tactics including lies and threats, a founding member testified Tuesday… it was the management team of Atmospheric Glow Technologies that found itself in the hot seat when physicist Daniel Max Sherman took the witness stand against his former instructor and mentor Tuesday.  "AGT was a publicly traded company, and it wanted to minimize damage," Sherman testified as explanation for what he said the management team did in May 2006 when federal authorities launched a probe of the use of foreign nationals from China and Iran on a U.S. Air Force contract awarded to AGT and subcontracted to Roth.  It was UT employee Robin Witherspoon who rang the bell of alarm when Roth, angry that AGT had allowed the Chinese student to work on the project but rejected the Iranian student, complained to her. Witherspoon was UT's Arms Control Export Act officer at the time and told Roth he was violating that law by allowing foreign nationals access to information about technology he and Sherman had developed for use on Air Force drones. Testimony showed she also alerted AGT….(Knoxville News, 27 Aug 08)  The Arms Export Control Act

U.S. firm guilty in defense exports to Chinese man

A U.S. firm pleaded guilty to illegally providing a Chinese national with data used in developing an unmanned aerial weapons system, the Justice Department said on Wednesday. The federal plea entered by privately held Atmospheric Glow Technologies Inc, of Knoxville, Tennessee, was the latest development in a U.S. effort to crack down on improper transfers of military technology to China.  The department said Atmospheric Glow had been working on a U.S. Air Force research contract, and admitted to illegally providing test results of the project.  The information related to advanced technology for use on drone weapons systems, according to the plea agreement that made no mention of any link to the Chinese government.  The agreement said the data was provided to Xin Dai, a Chinese national and research assistant to a University of Tennessee electrical engineering professor who had been hired to work on the project.  The professor, Reese Roth, was also indicted in the case, and pleaded not guilty. His trial is set to begin on Monday…Another former Atmospheric Glow employee, Daniel Sherman, pleaded guilty in April to charges of conspiring with Roth to export the data.….(Reuters, 20 Aug 08)

Firm Pleads Guilty to Sending Tech to China

Atmospheric Glow Technologies (AGT), pleaded guilty to 10 counts of illegally exporting plasma and aerodynamic technology to an individual in China.  In 2004, AGT and the University of Tennessee began work on the drone program for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. Under the contract, due to the sensitive nature of the program, the parties allegedly agreed that no foreign nationals would work on the project that involved plasma actuator technology to increase the performance of a plane's aerodynamics. The case also involves a former University of Tennessee professor, Reece Roth, who was indicted in May 2008 for allegedly exporting sensitive military data to China.  Roth's 18-count indictment also alleged conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Air Force, wire fraud and violating the Arms Export Control Act. His trial is expected to begin next week (25 Aug 08) in Knoxville, Tenn… In April, an AGT physicist, Daniel Max Sherman, pleaded guilty to conspiracy for violating the Arms Export Control Act… According to Sherman's plea agreement, from 2005 to 2006, AGT provided Roth's graduate student, Xin Dai, a Chinese national, with weekly and quarterly reports about the program.  Roth also faces trial for charges of allegedly allowing an Iranian graduate student named Sirous Nourgostar to work on the unmanned aerial vehicle project, which would be in violation of the Arms Export Control Act……(ABC, 20 Aug 08)

Guilty plea expected in military info case

…Atmospheric Glow Technologies Inc., now a publicly traded company, is set as a legal entity to profess guilt Wednesday for its role in what federal prosecutors Will Mackie and Jeff Theodore allege was the transfer of classified information about technology used in U.S. Air Force drones to foreign national students from both China and Iran and the actual taking of that data to China by UT Professor Emeritus J. Reece Roth…The case came to public light when authorities, including the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigation, seized Roth's laptop when he returned to Knoxville from a trip to China.

Roth is accused of taking with him on that May 2006 trip several documents detailing the inner workings of technology that AGT had developed for use in the Air Force drones……(Knoxville News, 19 Aug 08)

University Professor and Tennessee Tech Firm Indicted For Arms Exports

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Tennessee returned an 18-count indictment yesterday charging J. Reece Roth, a Professor Emeritus at The University of Tennessee, and Atmospheric Glow Technologies Inc. (AGT), a Knoxville-based technology company, with conspiring to defraud the U.S. Air Force and disclose restricted U.S. military data about Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or “drones,” to foreign nationals without first obtaining the required U.S. government license or approval… Prof. Roth is charged in the indictment with one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Air Force and violate the Arms Export Control Act; 15 counts of violating the Arms Export Control Act, and one count of wire fraud for defrauding the University of Tennessee. AGT is charged in the indictment with one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Air Force and violate the Arms Export Control Act and 10 counts of violating the Arms Export Control Act. According to the indictment, between January 2004 and May 2006, Roth and AGT engaged in a conspiracy to transmit export-controlled technical data related to a restricted U.S. Air Force contract to develop plasma actuators for a munitions-type UAV, or “drone,” to one of more foreign nationals, including a citizen from the People’s Republic of China…..(Canada Free Press, 22 May 08)

AFOSI investigation leads to indictment of university professor and Tennessee company

A joint investigation conducted by the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Commerce Office of Export Enforcement led a federal grand jury to return an 18-count indictment charging J. Reece Roth, 70, a Professor Emeritus at The University of Tennessee, and Atmospheric Glow Technologies Inc. (AGT), a Knoxville-based technology company, with conspiring to defraud the U.S. Air Force and disclose restricted U.S. military data about Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to foreign nationals without first obtaining the required U.S. government license or approval. The indictment was announced May 20 by James R. Dedrick, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, and Patrick Rowan, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security. Roth is charged in the indictment with one count of conspiracy to defraud the Air Force and violate the Arms Export Control Act, 15 counts of violating the Arms Export Control Act and one count of wire fraud for defrauding the University of Tennessee…..(OSI, 21 May 08)

Chinese Grad Student's Work Leads to Criminal Case

An unusual criminal prosecution concerning a professor's assignment of a Chinese graduate student to work on an Air Force unmanned drone technology project is part of an ongoing federal crackdown on China's efforts to gain American technology through academic exchanges, business deals, and old-fashioned espionage…The Justice Department's latest case, which originated at the University of Tennessee, is unprecedented, according to several analysts, because it rests on the notion that academic researchers effectively exported sensitive technical information by letting a foreign student have access to it… In Knoxville, Tenn., on Tuesday, Daniel Sherman, 37, entered a guilty plea to conspiring to violate the Arms Export Control Act while he served as the director of plasma research at Atmospheric Glow Technologies, Inc.  Sherman and prosecutors said the conspiracy also involved a professor emeritus of electrical engineering who ran the plasma laboratory at the University of Tennessee, J. Reece Roth. In court papers, prosecutors said Sherman and Mr. Roth agreed to assign a Chinese graduate student, Xin Dai, to the military project without advising the Air Force or seeking a special export license…Xin Dai reportedly left the university in 2006. He could not be reached for this article.…..(New York Sun 17 Apr 08)

Roth says he will retire at end of semester

J. Reece Roth, a University of Tennessee professor emeritus in the department of electrical and computer engineering, won't be back for the fall semester…His comments came after a guilty plea in U.S. District Court from 37-year-old Daniel Max Sherman, former director of Plasma Sciences for Atmospheric Glow Technologies Inc. in Knoxville. Sherman said that he conspired with Roth, 69, to provide data about technology used in the manufacture of an unmanned air vehicle - a drone - to graduate assistant Xin Dai… Roth has several patents for plasma technologies, and AGT has sublicensed six of those from the University of Tennessee Research Foundation… Roth has not yet been charged in the case. Almost two years ago federal authorities seized Roth's laptop when he arrived in Knoxville from a two-week lecture series in China. ……(Knox News, 16 Apr 08)

Physicist pleads guilty, implicates UT professor

A Colorado physicist admitted Tuesday he and University of Tennessee professor emeritus J. Reece Roth gave a Chinese graduate research assistant access to sensitive military arms information and lied about it. Daniel Max Sherman, 37, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan to charges he conspired with Roth and Knoxville firm Atmospheric Glow Technologies Inc. to violate the Arms Export Control Act, which bars the transfer of sensitive technology to foreign countries.    The plea, in which Sherman agreed to skip a grand jury review of the case against him, bodes ill for Roth as its terms require Sherman to cooperate with federal prosecutors Will Mackie and Jeff Theodore in an ongoing probe of Roth and AGT. It also stands in stark contrast to denials by Roth and UT last year of any violations of the act.  "Both the science and the regulations are complex, but at this point we do not believe the university has violated the act,'' Tom Milligan, vice chancellor for communications at UT Knoxville….(Knox News, 16 Apr 08)

Work by Chinese Grad Student Leads To Deemed Export Conviction

Max Sherman, a former employee of Knoxville-based Atmospheric Glow Technologies, entered a guilty plea today in federal court to a conspiracy with a former University of Tennessee professor to provide controlled technical data to a Chinese student research assistant in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. AGT had given a subcontract relating to its research on a military drone aircraft to UT’s Plasma Sciences Laboratory, and the professor and the Chinese research assistant were working on the project…..(Export Law Blog, 16 Apr 08)

U.S. physicist guilty of arms-export violation

…Daniel Max Sherman, a former employee of Knoxville, Tennessee-based Atmospheric Glow Technologies, entered his plea as part of an agreement with prosecutors. It said Sherman, the Atmospheric Glow company and a retired University of Tennessee professor conspired to transmit the data, which related to a U.S. Air Force contract to develop "plasma actuators" that improve a plane's aerodynamics. The data was given to a Chinese national who was a graduate research assistant at the university….(Reuters, 15 Apr 08)

Retired UT professor implicated in passing secrets

A Colorado physicist has pleaded guilty to conspiring with University of Tennessee professor emeritus J. Reece Roth to provide sensitive military data to a Chinese citizen.  Daniel Max Sherman pleaded guilty in federal court on Tuesday to violating the Arms Export Control Act by allowing Chinese graduate student Xin Dai (shin-die) to work on a military contract……(AP, 15 Apr 08)

UT prof won't explain connection to illegal work for Chinese

A Colorado physicist admitted in federal court today to conspiring with retired University of Tennessee professor J. Reece Roth to provide sensitive technical data to a Chinese citizen. Daniel Max Sherman, 37, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan to conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act, which bars the transfer of sensitive technology to other countries. Sherman admitted he conspired with Roth, 69, a professor emeritus in electrical and computer engineering, to provide technical data about the inner workings of technology used in the manufacture of an unmanned air vehicle - a drone - to graduate research assistant Xin Dai. Dai was a citizen of the Republic of China who was attending UT in 2006 on a student visa and was employed by a Knoxville-based company, Atmospheric Glow Technologies Inc., which also is accused in the conspiracy……(Knox News, 15 Apr 08)

Timeline to conspiracy charge

2006

--March 23: Atmospheric Glow Technologies Inc. announces a breakthrough in plasma actuator technology, developed under a U.S. Air Force contract.

--May 10-12: AGT learns of a potential Arms Export Control Act violation allegedly involving retired University of Tennessee professor J. Reece Roth, who does cooperative research with AGT.

--May 12: AGT removes all of its equipment from UT's Plasma Sciences Laboratory after the issue cannot be resolved.

--Mid-May-May 26: Roth lectures at two universities in China and works on a Chinese translation of one of his books.

--May 26: Roth is taken out of line by Customs agents at the Detroit airport on his return to the United States. Most of his documents are copied.

--May 26: Roth is met by federal agents in Knoxville who seize his laptop computer.

--May 27: Roth learns that federal agents have searched both his office and the Plasma Sciences Laboratory, seizing numerous items.

--May 29: Roth informs colleagues at UT and AGT of what has happened and says he is leaving to do consulting and visit his summer home.

--July 10: UT acknowledges it was served with federal search warrants but denies any violations of the Arms Export Control Act.

2007

Investigation continues and neither UT, Roth nor federal investigators will comment on the status.

2008

--April 15: Colorado physicist admits in U.S. District Court to conspiring with Roth and AGT to provide sensitive technical data to a Chinese graduate student. Daniel Max Sherman pleads guilty to conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act. Neither Roth nor AGT is charged, but prosecutors say investigation is continuing.....(Knoxville News, 15 Apr 08)

DOJ Press Release: Physicist Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Violate the Arms Export Control Act