Reuters is reporting that a former Monsanto research employee, Xiang Haitao, who had pleaded guilty in Missouri federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit economic espionage has been sentenced to 29 months in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of $150,000.00.

The trade secrets misappropriated by Mr. Xiang included a proprietary predictive algorithm developed by Monsanto. This case, one of many involving Chinese nationals caught pilfering American corporate secrets for the benefit of Chinese companies or its government, was unique in that authorities caught Mr. Xiang in an American airport with the stolen Monsanto algorithm but he was permitted to travel to China where he also worked for the Chinese Academy of Science’s Institute of Soil Science.

He was arrested upon his return to America over two years later and then charged and brought to what appears to be relatively rough justice.