Woman sentenced in submarine parts case

An Orlando federal judge on Monday sentenced a Chinese woman to 21 months in prison for illegally shipping submarine parts to a Chinese university, including some that she tucked inside her suitcase. Amin “Amy” Yu, 55, a former employee at the University of Central Florida, was accused of failing to disclose that she worked on behalf of the Chinese government and of lying about what she was shipping there. She pleaded guilty in June to two felonies: exporting goods to a foreign country without registering as a foreign agent and conspiring to commit international money laundering. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Irick, Yu was part of a conspiracy that involved shell companies, off-shore accounts and false documents. Between 2002 and 2014 she was involved in $2.6 million in illegal transactions, records show. Harbin University in Nangang, China, where she used to work, was her sole customer.