Updated: Thursday, 28 Mar 2013, 3:54 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 28 Mar 2013, 3:54 PM EDT
Mila Mimica
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) - Bo Jiang, a former NASA contractor accused of lying to federal agents, will be released on supervised probation.
Jiang is a Chinese national who allegedly failed to disclose all of the electronics he took with him on a one-way flight to China last week.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Lawrece Leonard said Wednesday the government has not provided evidence that Jiang is a flight risk nor that he is a danger to society.
"The government said there is a potential he had that information, but what we've heard does not support that claim," Leonard said.
Jiang will remain in prison until his monitoring system is set up and will then be placed on supervised probation.
After his initial court hearing last week, Jiang's friends and family professed his innocence, and said the matter could have been a simple language misinterpretation as Jiang does not speak English well.
Jiang was a PHD student at Old Dominion University and had worked with NASA-Langley as a contractor. He worked at the Hampton facility for the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) until January 2013.
Ex-NASA contractor to be released on $10K bond
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — A federal judge says a former contractor at NASA's Langley Research Center can be released from jail while he awaits trial, despite prosecutors' arguments that the Chinese citizen is a serious flight risk.
Bo Jiang pleaded not guilty Thursday to lying to federal authorities about what electronics he was carrying with him to Beijing when he was questioned at Dulles International Airport earlier this month.
Court documents say Jiang was under investigation for possible violations of the Arms Export Control Act at the time of the search, although he does not face any charges related to that.
Jiang will be released on a $10,000 unsecured bond and be forced to surrender his passport, although prosecutors may appeal.