Former GE Engineer Sentenced for Stealing Trade Secrets

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Miguel Sernas, age 41, of Mexico City, Mexico, was sentenced today to time served (approximately 12 months in jail) for conspiring to steal trade secrets from the General Electric Company (GE).  Sernas was also ordered to pay restitution to GE in the amount of $1.4 million.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and James N. Hendricks, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Sernas, who pled guilty in May, admitted to conspiring with his business partner and co-defendant, Jean Patrice Delia, to compete against GE using trade secrets Delia stole from GE.  Among the stolen trade secrets were advanced computer models created and used by GE to calibrate its turbines.  Sernas and Delia used these trade secrets, as well as stolen marketing data and pricing information, to compete against GE while operating as Thermogen Power Services, a power plant performance evaluation company based in Montreal, Canada.

Sernas has been in custody since he was arrested in Detroit, Michigan, on December 3, 2018, after entering the United States on an international flight from Mexico.

Delia, age 44, and a citizen of Canada, pled guilty today to conspiring to steal trade secrets.  He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 10, 2020.

This case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne A. Myers.