A DuPont Co. engineer and co-conspirator in a plot to sell company trade secrets to Chinese government-owned companies will spend two and one-half years in prison. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White sentenced Robert Maegerle to prison Wednesday and ordered him to pay $750,000 in restitution for conspiring with Walter Liew in a scheme to sell titanium dioxide to Pangang Group companies.
The government sought three years in prison saying the full six and one-half year sentence he could receive under the Sentencing Guidelines was too severe. Maegerle had, following his conviction, withdrawn post-trial claims for a mistrial and accepted responsibility.
“Maegerle was not a one man crime spree, as the court described Walter Liew,” the government said in its sentencing recommendation.
The government said Maegerle, who received $370,000, was far less culpable than Liew, who received $20 million.
By contrast, Liew received a 15-year sentence earlier this year.
Maegerle, who is 79, has no criminal record.
Liew and Maegerle were convicted of selling the process for making titanium dioxide, a compound used for the white pigment in paint, to the Chinese controlled firm.
Case: U.S. v. Maegerle, No. 11-572JSW
TrialInsider.com 
Liability depends on proof of negligence. Tort law also covers property rights which is different in civil litigation. In this way, our business market will be protected. Good decision.
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