A federal judge has sentenced a woman to 38 months in prison for her role in selling the U.S. military counterfeit electronic circuits from China and Hong Kong.

[This photo of Chinese chip manufacturing was found in one of the computers at VisionTechâ€™s offices. Government investigators concluded that it likely portrayed the production of counterfeit chips for the company.]

The Justice Department said the case against Stephanie McCloskey of Clearwater, FL, was the first federal prosecution involving trafficking of counterfeit integrated circuits, according to an Associated Press story.

The government said McCloskey, an administrator at VisionTech Components LLC, conspired with the company’s late owner to advertise name-brand, trademark-protected integrated circuits and sell hundreds of thousands of them to the U.S. Navy, defense contractors, and others. The Justice Department says that in a three-year span, McCloskey and others generated $15.8 million in receipts from the sales of the counterfeit circuits.

Integrated circuits control the flow of electricity in items ranging from consumer electronics to spacecraft and weapons systems.

Read more details.

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