Woman, 40, is sentenced in missile-sensors case

A woman who tried to smuggle weapons-grade sensors out of the United States and into China was sentenced yesterday to 12 months in prison.

Qing Li, 40, a Chinese national and legal permanent resident of the United States, pleaded guilty in June to buying and trying to export an accelerometer manufactured by the Endevco Corp. of San Juan Capistrano.

She is scheduled to surrender to authorities by Oct. 29.

Li, who is nine weeks pregnant, begged U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller for a sentence that did not include jail or prison time, so she could spend time with her husband and child.

“I regret it so much, what I have done,” she said.

Miller recommended that Li be transferred to a program that allows mothers to stay with their newborns while in custody. Whether she will be allowed to join such a program is up to prison officials. Because she is not a U.S. citizen, she might not be eligible, officials said.

Li admitted that she conspired to get the sensors into China, federal officials said. The devices, about the size of a credit card, can be used to measure the shocks from nuclear explosions and for developing artillery, missiles and smart bombs.

Li, who lived in Stamford, Conn., was taken into custody in October after being indicted by a federal grand jury in San Diego.