Judge tosses most charges against Kansas researcher

By MARGARET STAFFORD
Associated Press

A federal judge has thrown out three of four charges against a researcher who was convicted of concealing work he did for China while employed by the University of Kansas. In a ruling released Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson said federal prosecutors did not provide sufficient evidence to convict Feng “Franklin” Tao of three counts of wire fraud. However, she upheld Tao’s conviction for making a false statement and denied his request for a new trial on that count. Tao was accused of not disclosing that he was named to a Chinese talent program and was setting up a laboratory and recruiting staff for Fuzhou University in China while working at Kansas.