Tennessee Technology Company Pleads Guilty to Arms Export Control Act Violations

    KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 20 /EMWNews/ -- Atmospheric Glow

Technologies Inc. (AGT), a privately-held plasma technology company located

in Knoxville, Tenn., pleaded guilty today to ten counts of a federal

indictment charging AGT with unlawfully exporting in 2005 and 2006 ten

different "defense articles" to a citizen of the People's Republic of China

in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. This law prohibits the export

of defense-related materials, including technical data, to a foreign

national or a foreign nation without the required U.S. government license.



    The illegal exports by AGT charged in the indictment related to

technical data and information that was developed through a U.S. Air Force

research and development contract. AGT entered the guilty pleas before

Judge Thomas Varlan in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of

Tennessee at Knoxville.



    The maximum punishment for each of these offenses for the corporate

defendant is a criminal fine of $1,000,000, a maximum term of five years of

probation and a mandatory special assessment of $400. Sentencing has been

set for Dec. 8, 2008, at 1:30 p.m., in U.S. District Court in Knoxville.



    The U.S. Air Force research contract with AGT related to the

development of an unmanned flight vehicle munitions system of the type

often referred to as a "drone." AGT admitted in court to unlawfully

exporting to a national of the People's Republic of China technical

information concerning the test results of this research project.



    Russ Dedrick, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee,

stated, "Vigorous enforcement of the laws controlling arms export and

trafficking is of the highest priority for the Department of Justice and is

part of our duty to protect national security and the nation's defense

system. Both the Indictment and the guilty pleas by AGT reflect the

Department's efforts to combat illegal exports where ever it may happen,

whether it is here locally or overseas."



    On May 20, 2008, an 18-count indictment, which included the

aforementioned charges, was returned against AGT and Dr. J. Reece Roth, a

University of Tennessee Professor, by a federal grand jury sitting in

Knoxville. The indictment was the result of an ongoing investigation by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Air Force, Office of

Special Investigations, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Assistant U.S. Attorneys William Mackie and Jeffrey E. Theodore represented

the United States.



    For additional information, please contact U.S. Attorney Russ Dedrick,

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Mackie or Public Information Officer Sharry

Dedman-Beard, 865-545-4167.