Scientist pleads guilty in rice seed theft case

A 61-year-old scientist has pleaded guilty to a federal charge nearly three years after he was accused of stealing proprietary seeds developed in the U.S. and giving them to a delegation visiting from China.  Wengui Yan, of Stuttgart, Ark., pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Kansas City, Kan., to one count of making false statements to the FBI, the Justice Department said in a release.  Yan was a geneticist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the Dale Bumpers National Research Center in Stuttgart, when he was originally charged in December 2013. He and another scientist, Weiqiang Zhang, were charged with conspiracy to steal trade secrets and theft of trade secrets. Zhang is a U.S. permanent resident and Yan a naturalized U.S. citizen.  Zhang, 50, an agricultural seed breeder at Ventria Bioscience’s facility in Junction City, is awaiting a trial.