The Washington State University professor accused of defrauded the federal government out of millions of dollars might be considering a plea deal. 42 year old tenured Associate Professor Harry Wen of Pullman had a status conference in a New York federal courtroom last week. The online US Court docket entry for the proceeding notes that “parties are working on a possible solution” and that “the government is prepared to tender a plea”.
Doctor Wen was arrested by FBI agents in February of last year after a federal complaint was issued against him by the US Attorney in Western New York. The feds are alleging that Dr. Wen and his brother and sister in-law defrauded the government out of nearly 9 million in research money. Federal prosecutors say the trio funneled the money into sham companies that they set up in New York. The Wens reportedly spent the grant dollars on themselves instead of using it for asphalt research.
Dr. Wen was the Director of the Washington Center for Asphalt Technology at WSU when he was arrested. He has since been removed from that position. No future court dates have been set for Dr. Wen who is still a tenured Associate Professor in the WSU Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Via KQQQ