Ex-WVU professor pleads guilty to defrauding school

A former professor at West Virginia University admitted Tuesday in a federal courtroom that he lied to the school about taking leave to care for his newborn when in fact he was working as a paid professor in China, costing WVU about $20,000.

James Patrick Lewis, 54, formerly a tenured professor of physics who specialized in molecular reactions in coal conversion technology, pleaded guilty to a count of fraud involving WVU, where he had worked from 2006 to 2019.

Mr. Lewis was charged by a complaint called an information in February and entered the plea before a judge in Clarksburg, W.Va.

According to the FBI and the IRS, Mr. Lewis entered into an employment contract with the People’s Republic of China through its “Global Experts 1000 Talents Plan,” a program designed to lure foreign scientists to work for the good of China.

Mr. Lewis tricked WVU, which is publicly funded, into giving him parental leave so that he could work in China and hid what he was doing from his school, according to the Justice Department.

“The FBI knows the Chinese government intentionally targets the advanced technologies and technical expertise developed in the U.S. to give itself a competitive advantage in the world marketplace,” said Robert Jones, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Pittsburgh office, which covers

West Virginia.

He said participation in a talent program in China is not illegal.

Under Mr. Lewis’ contract, the Chinese Academy of Sciences agreed to employ him as a professor for three years and he in turn agreed to maintain an active research program and produce publications in science journals as well as provide training for Chinese Academy students.

He was promised a living subsidy of $143,000, a research subsidy of $573,000 and a salary of $86,000. To get that money, he had to work full time in China for three years for no less than nine months per year. He was to have started work no later than Aug. 8, 2018, prosecutors said.

In March of that year, investigators said, he submitted a request to WVU to be released from his teaching duties for the fall of 2018 so he could be the primary caregiver for a child he and his wife were expecting in June 2018.

But, the FBI said, Mr. Lewis knew this was a lie. Instead of caring for the infant, he planned to work in China and still get paid by WVU.

The university granted his request and Mr. Lewis spent most of the semester in China while his child stayed home in the U.S. with his wife. During that time, WVU paid him $20,189 under his purported parental work assignment.

As part of his plea, he’ll have to pay that money back. Mr. Lewis resigned from WVU in August 2019. He remains free on bond. No sentencing date was set.