Former Army Employee Arrested en Route to China in Possession of Stolen Government Information

A former civilian employee at the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, was taken into custody yesterday afternoon at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport while attempting to board a flight to China. At the time of his attempted one-way flight to China, Liangtian Yang, age 26, also known as Alfred Yang, of Lawton, Oklahoma, allegedly had in his possession multiple media storage devices, one of which contained a restricted Army field manual. The manual was not authorized to be in his possession, nor was it authorized to be transferred to a personal computer disk.

Yesterday, in the Western District of Oklahoma, Yang was charged with one count of theft of government property. He made his initial appearance in federal court in St. Paul this afternoon and will be sent to the Western District of Oklahoma for further prosecution. Presently, he is in FBI custody.

According to a law enforcement affidavit filed in the case, Yang was an analyst at Fort Sill until August 16, 2010, when his secret clearance was revoked because of security violations. On August 24, 2010, he was selected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection for a secondary screening at the airport while waiting for a flight to Tokyo, with China as its final destination. During the screening, the manual was discovered.

If convicted, Yang faces a potential maximum penalty of one year in prison. All sentences will be determined by a federal district court judge.

This case is the result of an investigation by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the FBI. It is being prosecuted by the Western District of Oklahoma, with assistance from the District of Minnesota.

A defendant, of course, is presumed innocent until he or she pleads guilty or is proven guilty at trial.