SAN DIEGO—A former U.S. Navy sailor was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Dec. 21 for illegally exporting military equipment to China for profit.
Ye Sang “Ivy” Wang, 37, and her husband, Shaohua “Eric” Wang, 38, both of San Diego, pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges for selling equipment the couple obtained through Ivy Wang’s position as a Navy logistics specialist, according to prosecutors.
Eric Wang was sentenced last year to nearly four years in prison.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eric Wang sold the equipment through his online business and housed the equipment in a warehouse in China.
Ivy Wang, who purchased military equipment for Naval Special Warfare Units as part of her job, admitted in her plea agreement to buying a device used to identify U.S. military personnel in the field.
She was deployed in Iraq when the device arrived on base in San Diego, and told her command the package was something for her husband that would be used on a camping trip, prosecutors said.
She was later interviewed by law enforcement and admitted she knew her husband was illegally shipping military equipment.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that after her husband repeatedly asked her to buy equipment with her military email address, she “grew so annoyed” that she gave him her email password and told him to buy the equipment by posing as her.
Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said, “This defendant used her position of trust to put the Navy and the nation at risk, and the sentence imposed [on Dec. 21] holds her accountable for her actions.”
Joshua Flowers, special agent in charge at the Naval Criminal Investigative Service Southwest, said, “Ms. Wang betrayed her oath to the U.S. Navy and ultimately threatened the operational readiness and safety of our nation’s military by attempting to acquire and illegally export sensitive military equipment to China.”
