Chinese man sentenced for trying to export satellite part

SEATTLE (AP) — A Chinese citizen was sentenced in federal court to 18 months in prison for trying to export an instrument used in satellites and spacecraft.

U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes says Yue Wu was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty in May to one count of conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act.

Wu was arrested in October as he prepared to leave the U.S. from the San Francisco International Airport.

He had spent years trying to obtain a type of accelerometer for a customer in China. They can only be exported from the U.S. with a license from the U.S. State Department. Wu didn't have a license.

Wu had tried to convince a contact to send the gadgets to China disguised as something else or through a different country. That contact was an undercover law enforcement agent.