The former Los Alamos National Laboratory physicist who pleaded guilty to lying about connections to a paid Chinese talent-recruiting program wants his sentencing date postponed because of COVID-19-related health concerns, court papers show.
Turab Lookman, who pleaded guilty in January to one count of lying to federal authorities, is now nearly “70 years old and has a family history of significant cardiac disease,” his attorneys wrote in a motion to continue sentencing in U.S. District Court in New Mexico. “He is thus in a high-risk pool for serious and potentially fatal complications associated with COVID-19 [and] it would be inappropriate to require Dr. Lookman to attend a public gathering of a sentencing hearing and place himself in potentially great medical danger as a result at this time.”
The court agreed to Lookman’s attorneys request that sentencing be delayed to around July 21: 90 days after the court-ordered date of April 22. The U.S. attorney prosecuting the case did not object to the delay.
Lookman’s attorneys also said New Mexico’s COVID-19 response, including stay-at-home orders from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham that began in late March, made it more difficult to prepare a sentencing memorandum, letters of support for the physicist, and a presentation for the court on sentencing day.
Lookman worked at Los Alamos’ Theoretical Division for at least 20 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The Justice Department in May 2019 unsealed an indictment charging him with three counts of lying to federal investigators during routine clearance interviews about his connection with China’s Thousand Talents program.
Lookman pleaded not guilty, before settling on a plea bargain in which he admitted to one count of lying. He now faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised released, and a fine as large as $250,000 . The Justice Department planned to recommend no more than 10 months in prison, though Chief Judge William Johnson will have the final say about that.
