An Ontario man originally from China was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for illegally exporting firearms, ammunition, and sensitive technology to North Korea. Shenghua Wen, 42, received his sentence from United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson in Los Angeles.
Wen has been held in federal custody since December 2024. He pleaded guilty on June 9 to one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and one count of acting as an illegal agent of a foreign government.
Wen entered the United States in 2012 on a student visa 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 and later acted under their direction.
According to court documents, two North Korean officials contacted Wen via an online messaging platform in 2022 and instructed him to purchase and smuggle firearms and other goods—including sensitive technology—from the U.S. to North Korea through China.
In 2023, Wen shipped at least three containers of firearms from the Port of Long Beach to China, with their final destination being North Korea. To hide his activities, he filed false export information about the shipments’ contents.
That year, Wen also purchased a firearms business in Houston using funds sent by intermediaries linked to his North Korean contacts. He bought many of the weapons in Texas before transporting them himself to California for shipment overseas.
One shipment falsely declared as containing a refrigerator left Long Beach in December 2023 and arrived in Hong Kong the following month before being transported to Nampo, North Korea.
In September 2024, Wen bought about 60,000 rounds of 9mm ammunition intended for shipment to North Korea. He also obtained or attempted to obtain items such as a chemical threat identification device, a handheld broadband receiver capable of detecting various transmissions, a civilian airplane engine, and a thermal imaging system suitable for aircraft use.
North Korean officials wired approximately $2 million to Wen during this period for procurement efforts. Wen admitted that he knew it was illegal to export these items without proper licenses and acknowledged never notifying the Attorney General that he was acting under direction from North Korean officials as required by law.
The investigation involved several agencies: the FBI; Homeland Security Investigations; Defense Criminal Investigative Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security.
“Assistant United States Attorney Sarah E. Gerdes of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section and Trial Attorney Ahmed Almudallal of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.”
