Feds Seek Five-Year Prison Sentence for Google Trade Secrets Thief

Linwei 'Leon' Ding, a Chinese citizen in his late 30s who obtained a green card in 2021, is facing a five-year prison sentence for stealing 2,000 pages of data from Google. The stolen information includes the building blocks of Google's supercomputing data centers used to train and host large AI systems.

The theft occurred between May 2022 and April 2023, and Ding was arrested at his Newark home in 2024. Prosecutors describe the crime as 'sophisticated' and say it reflects the scale and sophistication of Ding's actions.

Ding's lawyers argue that he should not be sentenced to prison, but rather receive three months of home confinement. They claim that Ding has lost his career, marriage, and mental health since his arrest in March 2024, and will likely face removal from the United States where his 8-year-old son is a U.S. citizen.

Chhabria, the judge presiding over the case, previously threw out Ding's spying convictions, citing insufficient evidence to support them. However, prosecutors are seeking a five-year sentence for Ding's economic espionage conviction.