Ex Army Analyst Arrested at Minneapolis Airport En Route to China With Stolen Info

MINNEAPOLIS - A former civilian employee of the U.S. Army was arrested at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Thursday attempting to board a one-way flight to China with stolen government information.

Liangtian Yang, 26 (aka Alfred Yang) of Lawton, Oklahoma, allegedly had in his possession multiple media storage devices, one of which contained a restricted Army field manual. The manual was not authorized to be in his possession, nor was it authorized to be transferred to a personal computer disk.

Yang is a former civilian employee at the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He was charged Thursday in Oklahoma with one count of theft
of government property. According to an affidavit filed in the case, Yang was an analyst at Fort Sill until August 16, 2010, when his secret clearance was revoked because of security violations.

On August 24, Yang was selected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection for a secondary screening at the airport while waiting for a flight to Tokyo, with China as its final destination. During the screening, the manual was discovered.

Liangtian Yang made his initial appearance in federal court in St. Paul this afternoon and will be sent to Oklahoma for further prosecution. If convicted, Yang faces a potential maximum penalty of one year in prison.