A Chinese national was sentenced that day in federal court in Boston, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday (Jan. 6). He was convicted of making false statements to authorities after his theft of 19 biological research test tubes.
File photo:International travelers arrive at Boston’s Logan Airport. (Jan. 30, 2017)
Zaosong Zheng, 31, was sentenced by U.S. Federal Court Judge Denise J. Casper to credit for time already spent in custody and add three years to his supervised release. This means that Zheng Zaosong, who has been held for approximately 87 days, can be released immediately upon sentencing. The judge also ordered his deportation from the United States.
According to information from the Justice Department, Zheng Zaosong entered the U.S. in 2018 on a J-1 visa to conduct cancer research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. The medical center is associated with Harvard University. On Dec. 9, 2019, Zheng Zaosong stole biological research test tubes, hid them in his luggage and attempted to board a flight leaving the United States for China with them, the Justice Department said. Federal agents at Logan Airport found the test tubes hidden in a sock and improperly packaged, and when asked by federal agents if he was traveling with biological or research items, he answered in the negative, the DOJ said. Zheng Zaosong later admitted he stole the tubes from a lab at the research center and was going to use them to return to China to conduct research in his own lab and publish papers under his own name, the Justice Department said.
Zheng Zaosong was arrested at Logan Airport on Dec. 10, 2020. He pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston in December 2020.
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