A Chinese national who entered the United States on a student visa has been sentenced to eight years in prison for acting as a foreign agent and illegally exporting weapons and military technology to North Korea. The sentencing of Shenghua Wen, 42, brings to a close a multi-year investigation that uncovered a sophisticated, multi-million dollar smuggling operation aimed at supplying a U.S. adversary with U.S.-sourced weapons.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles, Wen was sentenced on Monday after pleading guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government.
The investigation revealed that Wen, who has been in the U.S. illegally since his student visa expired in 2013, had a pre-existing arrangement with North Korean officials. Prosecutors said that before he even entered the U.S., he met with officials at a North Korean embassy in China, where he was instructed to procure goods on behalf of the communist state.
The scheme intensified in 2022 when North Korean officials contacted him via an online messaging app and instructed him to buy firearms, ammunition, and sensitive technology. To carry out the operation, Wen reportedly purchased a firearms business in Houston, paying for it with $2 million wired by his North Korean contacts. He then had others purchase the firearms for him and drove the weapons to California, where he concealed them in shipping containers.
In one instance, Wen falsely claimed a container was a refrigerator to avoid detection by U.S. officials. The container, which was filled with weapons, was shipped from the Port of Long Beach to Hong Kong before being rerouted to North Korea.
The FBI’s investigation led to the seizure of 50,000 rounds of ammunition and military-grade equipment from Wen’s home in Ontario, California. Wen, who told investigators he believed the weapons were intended for a “surprise attack” on South Korea, also reportedly tried to acquire a civilian airplane engine and a thermal imaging system that could be mounted on a drone.
The sentence serves as a stark reminder of the lengths to which foreign adversaries will go to skirt international sanctions and acquire U.S. military technology. It also highlights the persistent threat of foreign espionage on U.S. soil. As U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada stated, Wen’s sentence “sends a strong message” that his office will “work tirelessly” to prosecute those who act as illegal foreign agents.