AFOSI investigation leads to indictment of university professor and Tennessee company

  • Published
  • Headquarters Air Force Office of Special Investigations Public Affairs
A joint investigation conducted by the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Commerce Office of Export Enforcement led a federal grand jury to return an 18-count indictment charging J. Reece Roth, 70, a Professor Emeritus at The University of Tennessee, and Atmospheric Glow Technologies Inc. (AGT), a Knoxville-based technology company, with conspiring to defraud the U.S. Air Force and disclose restricted U.S. military data about Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to foreign nationals without first obtaining the required U.S. government license or approval.

The indictment was announced May 20 by James R. Dedrick, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, and Patrick Rowan, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security.

Roth is charged in the indictment with one count of conspiracy to defraud the Air Force and violate the Arms Export Control Act, 15 counts of violating the Arms Export Control Act and one count of wire fraud for defrauding the University of Tennessee.

AGT is charged in the indictment with one count of conspiracy to defraud the Air Force and violate the Arms Export Control Act and 10 counts of violating the Arms Export Control Act.

According to the indictment, between January 2004 and May 2006, Roth and AGT engaged in a conspiracy to defraud the Air Force and transmit export-controlled technical data related to a restricted Air Force contract to develop plasma actuators for a munitions-type UAV to one or more foreign nationals, including a citizen from the People's Republic of China. The Chinese national, Xin Dai, was a graduate research assistant at the University of Tennessee.

Further, according to the indictment, Roth departed for the People's Republic of China in May 2006 and carried multiple documents, which were subject to export controls, containing technical data controlled by the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations and related to the above Air Force contract.

The indictment also alleges that, in May 2006, Roth directed a wire transmission to China of a document containing restricted technical data controlled by the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations and related to the above contract.

Violations of the Arms Export Control Act carry a maximum possible penalty of ten years imprisonment and a $1 million fine. Wire fraud carries a maximum possible penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, while conspiracy carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.