By Mengqi Sun 

A Chinese national was sentenced to two years in prison for allegedly stealing proprietary information worth about $1 billion from his Oklahoma employer, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday.

Hongjin Tan, 36 years old, is a Chinese citizen and U.S. legal permanent resident. He pleaded guilty in federal court in Oklahoma in November to charges including theft, unauthorized transmission and unauthorized possession of a trade secret.

Mr. Tan, who was arrested in December 2018, stole the information from a petroleum company in Oklahoma, prosecutors said.

A lawyer representing Mr. Tan didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Justice Department didn't identify Mr. Tan's U.S. employer. A LinkedIn profile for a Hongjin Tan listed experience as a staff scientist at Phillips 66 in Bartlesville, Okla., starting in May 2017.

A representative for Phillips 66 declined to comment, citing company practice to not comment on legal matters.

Write to Mengqi Sun at mengqi.sun@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 27, 2020 16:54 ET (21:54 GMT)

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