An Ontario man originally from China has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for exporting firearms, ammunition, and sensitive technology to North Korea. Shenghua Wen, 42, was convicted of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government.
United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson handed down the 96-month sentence in Los Angeles. Wen has been in federal custody since December 2024 after pleading guilty earlier this year.
According to court documents, Wen entered the United States on a student visa in 2012 but remained illegally after his visa expired in December 2013. Before coming to the U.S., he met with North Korean officials at their embassy in China, where they directed him to procure goods for North Korea.
In 2022, two North Korean government officials contacted Wen through an online platform and instructed him to purchase and smuggle firearms and other items from the United States to North Korea via China. In 2023, following these instructions, Wen shipped at least three containers of firearms from the Port of Long Beach to China with the final destination being North Korea. He concealed his actions by submitting false export information about the shipments’ contents.
Wen also bought a firearms business in Houston using funds provided by intermediaries linked to his North Korean contacts. He acquired many of the weapons sent abroad in Texas before transporting them himself to California for shipping.
One shipment sent from Long Beach in December 2023 was falsely declared as containing a refrigerator; it arrived first in Hong Kong before reaching Nampo, North Korea by January 2024. Later that year, Wen purchased approximately 60,000 rounds of ammunition intended for shipment overseas.
Authorities say Wen also obtained or attempted to obtain advanced technology including a chemical threat identification device and a broadband receiver capable of detecting various transmissions. Additional equipment included efforts to acquire a civilian airplane engine and thermal imaging systems suitable for reconnaissance use on aircraft or drones.
Throughout this scheme, Wen received about $2 million wired from North Korean officials for procurement purposes. In his plea agreement, he admitted knowing it was illegal to ship such materials without proper licenses and acknowledged he had not notified U.S. authorities as required when acting under foreign direction.
The investigation involved several agencies: FBI; Homeland Security Investigations; Defense Criminal Investigative Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security.
Assistant United States Attorney Sarah E. Gerdes (Terrorism and Export Crimes Section) and Trial Attorney Ahmed Almudallal (National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section) prosecuted the case.
