Georgia Man Sentenced to Probation in Trade Secret Case

ROCHESTER, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Danny Ray Price, 65, of Newnan, Georgia, was sentenced to two years’ probation and fined $1000 by U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa after pleading guilty to misprision of a felony for his role in the theft of Corning trade secrets.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany H. Lee, who handled the case, stated that Price was aware of a scheme hatched by others to take without authorization and sell trade secret information belonging to Corning Incorporated. The information, which involved Corning’s process to produce Thin Filter Transistor (“TFT”) Liquid Crystal Display (“LCD”) glass, was to fall into the possession of a corporation based in Taiwan that was interested in manufacturing TFT LCD glass to compete with Corning.

Price was sent by the Taiwanese corporation’s consultant, Yeong Lin, to exchange money for the Corning drawings that had been taken by Jonathan Sanders, an employee of Corning. Price made the exchange with Sanders and then photocopied the drawings and transferred the drawings to Yeong Lin. Price later concealed his knowledge of the scheme and destroyed his set of the original drawings he had received from Sanders. Price never made his knowledge of the transactions known to a judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States.

Yeong Lin and Jonathan Sanders have both been convicted and sentenced for their roles in this case.

“In order to succeed, companies and individuals need to preserve the value of their unique and creative ideas,” said U.S. Attorney Hochul. “For these reasons, this Office will continue to vigorously enforce the country’s intellectual property laws, and thereby protect the hard work of all of who call our region home.”

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Christopher M. Piehota.