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Loxley Man Sentenced to Prison in Stolen Polysilicon Case
Willie Richard Short, a 63-year-old resident of Loxley, Alabama, has been sentenced to serve 6 months in prison for his role in buying and selling stolen polysilicon and laundering the proceeds of these illegal transactions.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama, the sentencing took place on June 17, 2016, before United States District Judge Kristi K. DuBose.
Short was also ordered to pay $2.2 million in restitution for his crimes, which involved the theft of high-grade polysilicon from the Mitsubishi Polysilicon manufacturing plant in Theodore, Alabama. The plant produces exceptionally high-grade polysilicon, which is a material used in the manufacturing of computer chips that control high-tech devices.
Short and his co-defendant, George Welford, were former employees of the Mitsubishi plant. They began stealing polysilicon rods in late 2008, using reinforced backpacks and lunch pails to transport the material out of the plant and into their vehicles.
Over the course of several years, Short and Welford stole approximately 40 metric tons of polysilicon, valued at $2.2 million. They sold the material to a Texas-based company, Horizon Silicon, which was owned and operated by brothers-in-law Wasi Syed and Shahab Mir.
Short and Welford laundered the proceeds of their crimes by receiving cash payments from Syed, who would then sell the polysilicon to other buyers. The stolen polysilicon was eventually exported from the United States, with some of the material ending up in the People’s Republic of China.
Short’s co-defendants, Wasi Syed, Shahab Mir, and Darlene Row, were sentenced to prison terms of 24 months, 3 months, and 2 months, respectively. George Welford, another co-defendant, was sentenced to 6 months in prison.
This matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and IRS-Criminal Investigations in Mobile, Alabama.
Key Facts
- State: Alabama
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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