Chinese National Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison for Shipping Weapons to North Korea via China
Shenghua Wen, 42, of Ontario, California, was sentenced to 96 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson in Los Angeles on Aug. 18, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced in a statement.
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USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
North Korea wired an agent $2M to smuggle weapons, tech and disguises out of California
Shenghua Wen, 42, was sentenced to eight years in prison in connection with the scheme that earned him $2 million from North Korean handlers. It comes after he pleaded guilty in June. North Korean agents paid a Chinese national $2 million to smuggle U.S. weapons and technology that were to be used for a surprise attack on South Korea, federal prosecutors said Aug. 19. Shenghua Wen, a 42-year-old illegal alien living outside Los Angeles, was sentenced to eight years in prison for the scheme, the Department of Justice announced. He was tapped by North Korean handlers to export guns, ammo, sensitive technologies and eventually disguises, court papers show. Wen smuggled three shipping containers of guns and ammunition to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) before he was caught, prosecutors said. "Wen's crimes jeopardized the national security of the United States and that of its ally, South Korea," prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum in the Central District of California. "Defendant's conduct was bold, and the purpose of his mission was alarming. According to defendant, he was charged with procuring the weapons and sensitive technology for North Korea so North Korea could prepare for a surprise attack against South Korea." In addition to the three shipping containers' worth of arms, Wen planned to send 60,000 bullets and sensitive technologies, including a device to identify chemical threats, a thermal imaging device to be mounted on aircraft and an engine meant to be the precursor for a North Korean drone program, according to court papers. The North Korean asset also planned to send military uniforms that the DPRK could use to disguise troops sent into South Korea, prosecutors said. Wen's sentencing comes after he pleaded guilty on June 9 to acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which regulates trade with nations hostile to the U.S. DPRK handlers paid Wen around $2 million for the scheme, which dates back to 2022 when he was first contacted online by North Korean officials, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. In a letter to the judge, Wen's lawyers said the Chinese national accepted responsibility for what he had done. "Mr. Wen is truly a book that is not best judged by its cover," his public defender Michael L. Brown II wrote. "The offense conduct suggests that he is someone sophisticated and bold as the government claims when in reality he was a lowly agent, without much agency, in desperate financial straights when he committed the offense conduct." Wen's lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment. A surprise attack in the making Wen came to the United States in 2012 on a student visa, according to prosecutors. His lawyers said he was seeking asylum after Chinese authorities had persecuted him for practicing Catholicism, which has been outlawed to varying degrees in communist China. Prosecutors say he was already planning to become a North Korean asset at that point. Wen told the FBI in interviews that before moving to the U.S., he met with DPRK handlers at a North Korean embassy in China, court papers show. North Korean officials contacted Wen online about 10 years later, provided him the money for a Federal Firearms License to allow him to deal arms and the California-based DPKR asset began making trips to Texas to buy guns. Wen exported the weapons from Long Beach, near LA. He told U.S. authorities he was shipping a refrigerator, court papers show. He "admitted that he believed the North Korean government wanted the weapons, ammunition, and other military-related equipment to prepare for an attack against South Korea," prosecutors said. Investigators also found many images on his phone of U.S. military uniforms. Prosecutors said the photos were related to a plan to provide North Korean troops with disguises for the eventual attack. U.S. arms in foreign hands Wen's case is just the latest in international arms dealers making use of the American firearms market. The top five weapons manufacturers in the world as of 2023 were all American companies, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Lockheed Martin's $60.8 million revenue was greater than the top three Chinese companies combined. But American firearms have a way of making it into the hands of the nation's adversaries, from North Korean soldiers to cartels south of the border in Mexico. The FBI regularly catches foreign nationals in the United States exporting arms to places around the world that American authorities consider hostile. In March, federal officials charged a pair of men in Cleveland in connection with an operation to sell around 90 rifles and a machine gun to undercover agents posing as cartel members. Mexico sued U.S. gun manufacturers over the avalanche of American guns that wind up south of the border, although the Supreme Court eventually ruled against the U.S. neighbor. In April 2024, the Department of Justice charged a pair of foreign businessmen with conspiring to send anti-aircraft rounds, grenade launchers and automatic rifles to Iraq and Sudan.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
California man admits to shipping weapons to North Korea — sentenced to 8 years in prison
A California man has been sentenced to eight years in prison after admitting to shipping weapons and ammunition to North Korea that he said were to be used for a surprise attack on South Korea, authorities said Tuesday. Shenghua Wen, 42, came to the U.S. from China on a student visa in 2012 and remained in the country illegally after it expired, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles. Wen pleaded guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government, the statement says. Advertisement 3 Shenghua Wen, 42, was sentenced to eight years in prison after he admitted to shipping weapons to North Korea for a surprise attack on South Korea. Instagram / Shenghua Wen He was sentenced on Monday. Wen told investigators that before he entered the U.S., he met with North Korean officials at an embassy in China, where they instructed him to procure goods for the North Korean government. Advertisement He also admitted that he tried to buy uniforms to disguise North Korean soldiers for the surprise attack, a federal complaint says. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has demonstrated an intent to deploy battlefield nuclear weapons along the North's border with South Korea, a U.S. ally, recently delivering nuclear-capable missile launchers to frontline military units. United Nations resolutions ban North Korea from importing or exporting weapons. In 2022, North Korean officials contacted him via an online messaging app and instructed him to buy firearms, prosecutors said. Advertisement 3 The U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles, California, revealed that Wen was staying in the U.S. illegally after his student visa expired. AP He shipped two containers of weapons and other items from Long Beach, California, to North Korea via Hong Kong in 2023. Start your day with all you need to know Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more. Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters He told U.S. authorities that he was wired about $2 million to do so, according to the complaint. Advertisement Authorities did not specify in the complaint the types of weapons that were exported. 3 Prior to arriving in the U.S. in 2012, Wen met with North Korean officials in China, where he was given instructions on how to procure goods for the North Korean government. U.S. Department of Justice To carry out his operation, Wen purchased a business in 2023 called Super Armory, a federal firearms licensee, for $150,000, and registered it under his business partner's name in Texas. He had other people purchase the firearms and then drove them to California, misrepresenting the shipments as a refrigerator and camera parts. Investigators did not say whether Wen had organized any shipments during his first 10 years in the U.S. The FBI in September seized 50,000 rounds of ammunition from Wen's home in the LA suburb of Ontario that had been stored in a van parked in the driveway, the complaint says. They also seized a chemical threat identification device and a transmission detective device that Wen said he planned to send to the North Korean government for military use, the complaint says.
Fox News
3 hours ago
- Fox News
Chinese national who overstayed visa learns fate for exporting weapons to North Korea
Print Close By Louis Casiano Published August 19, 2025 An illegal immigrant accused of exporting shipments of firearms, ammunition and other military items that were concealed inside shipping containers to North Korea was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison. Shenghua Wen, 42, of the Los Angeles suburb of Ontario, had been in federal custody since December 2024 before pleading guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government. Wen, a Chinese citizen, entered the United States in 2012 on a student visa and remained in the U.S. illegally after the visa expired in December 2013, the Justice Department said. Before entering the U.S., Wen met with North Korean government officials at that country's embassy in China where they asked him to procure goods on behalf of the communist state. CHINESE STUDENT ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY SMUGGLING UNDECLARED BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS SEEN IN NEW MUGSHOT "Wen and some co-conspirators successfully shipped firearms and ammunition to North Korea by concealing the items inside shipping containers that were shipped from Long Beach, Calif., through Hong Kong, China, to North Korea," federal prosecutors said. On Aug. 14, authorities seized two devices – a chemical threat identification device and a hand-held broadband receiver that detects eavesdropping devices -- at Wen's home that he intended to send to North Korea, the Justice Department said. On Sept. 6, law enforcement seized approximately 50,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition that Wen allegedly obtained to send to North Korea. Messages retrieved from Wen's cellphones revealed discussions with co-conspirators about shipping military-grade equipment to North Korea. Some of these messages include photographs that Wen sent of items controlled for export under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a December news release. CHINESE PHD STUDENT FROM WUHAN ARRESTED SMUGGLING BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS AFTER DELETING ELECTRONIC EVIDENCE: DOJ From January to April 2024, Wen sent emails and text messages to a U.S.-based broker about obtaining a civilian plane engine. There also were several text messages on Wen's iPhone about price negotiations for the plane and its engine. North Korean officials wired Wen $2 million to get the firearms and other items. He told investigators that he believed the North Korean government wanted the weapons and ammunition for a potential attack on South Korea. With the money, Wen was able to pay for an armory and a federal firearm license for $150,000 and listed his partner's name as the business owner to register with the Texas Secretary of State. In an effort to fly under the radar and avoid detection by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), he had others purchase firearms for him, authorities said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "Once the straw purchasers gave WEN the firearms, he transported them to California, packed the firearms into a shipping container, and shipped the container to China, knowing that it would be transferred to North Korea," court documents state. Print Close URL
