# The one-way ticket: three spying cases that ended at an airport

Three cases on the list come down to a scene at an airport. Two of the tickets were one-way. One of the three is still only an allegation.

Updated November 10, 2026. Interactive version: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/china-spy-cases/one-way-ticket

## Flight 1: Former employee, Monsanto

Departure airport not stated, to China, June 2017. Carrying: Copies of a crop-yield algorithm. Outcome: Pleaded guilty · 29 months.

1. The day after leaving Monsanto and its subsidiary The Climate Corporation, an employee tries to fly to China on a one-way ticket.
2. While he waits to board, federal officials search him and his bags.
3. Investigators later find copies of the Nutrient Optimizer on one of his devices. It is the predictive algorithm at the heart of the companies’ farming software.
4. He flies on to China anyway. He is arrested when he returns to the US in November 2019, pleads guilty, and is sentenced to 29 months.

Sources: [Justice Department: sentence in the Monsanto case, April 7, 2022](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/chinese-national-sentenced-economic-espionage-conspiracy)

## Flight 2: Former hardware engineer, Apple

From San Jose, to China, July 2018. Carrying: Circuit board schematics. Outcome: Pleaded guilty · 120 days.

1. An engineer on Apple’s self-driving car project takes paternity leave and travels to China. When he comes back he resigns, and says he plans to work for a Chinese electric vehicle company.
2. Apple cuts his network access and investigates. It finds he downloaded documents from company databases.
3. Closed-circuit cameras show him entering the labs and removing hardware, later identified as circuit boards and a Linux server, according to the complaint.
4. Federal agents arrest him at the San Jose airport, where he planned to fly to China. He pleads guilty in 2022 and is sentenced to 120 days.

Sources: [CNBC: guilty plea in the first Apple car case, August 22, 2022](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/22/former-apple-employee-xiaolang-zhang-pleads-guilty-.html); [Engadget: sentence in the first Apple car case, February 2024](https://www.engadget.com/ex-apple-engineer-sentenced-to-six-months-in-prison-for-stealing-self-driving-car-tech-110537599.html)

## Flight 3: Former software engineer, Apple

From San Francisco, to Guangzhou, June 27, 2018. Carrying, prosecutors allege: Self-driving car source code. Outcome: Unproven allegation · charged 2023 · no verdict.

1. After a software engineer’s last day at Apple, the company reviews its access logs. They show large amounts of sensitive material accessed in the days before he left, the indictment says.
2. Law enforcement searches his home in Mountain View and finds large quantities of data taken from Apple, according to the indictment.
3. He is there for the search. He tells the agents he has no plans to travel.
4. That night he boards a flight to Guangzhou on a one-way ticket, the indictment says. He was charged in 2023. Nothing here has been proven in court.

Sources: [US Attorney, N.D. California: indictment in the third Apple car case, May 16, 2023](https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/former-apple-employee-charged-theft-trade-secrets)

## Sources

- [Justice Department: sentence in the Monsanto case, April 7, 2022](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/chinese-national-sentenced-economic-espionage-conspiracy)
- [CNBC: guilty plea in the first Apple car case, August 22, 2022](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/22/former-apple-employee-xiaolang-zhang-pleads-guilty-.html)
- [Engadget: sentence in the first Apple car case, February 2024](https://www.engadget.com/ex-apple-engineer-sentenced-to-six-months-in-prison-for-stealing-self-driving-car-tech-110537599.html)
- [US Attorney, N.D. California: indictment in the third Apple car case, May 16, 2023](https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/former-apple-employee-charged-theft-trade-secrets)

Only cases that name the company are counted; many never do. “Charged” cases are unproven allegations and defendants are presumed innocent. Compiled by Autumn (https://www.autumn.ai).