Followup: Elena Ford pleads guilty to DUI, gets probation

Filed under: Government/Legal, Ford

ford global marketing director elena fordBloomberg reports that Ford Global Marketing Director Elena Ford (great-great-granddaughter of Henry Ford) has plead guilty to Driving Under the Influence of alcohol, saying the incident has been a “complete embarrassment” to her family. The Ford family heiress was arrested on April 4 after failing a sobriety test and registering a .14 on a breathalyzer; nearly twice the legal limit of .08 in Michigan. Police pulled Ford over after she reportedly jumped the median in in her 2011 Ford Explorer. The Michigan court sentenced the 44-year-old Ford to two years’ probation, 240 hours of community service and mandatory counseling. Ford was originally also charged with child endangerment since she had her 11-year-old son in the car. [Source: Bloomberg]

Followup: Elena Ford pleads guilty to DUI, gets probation originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 22 Apr 2011 14:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Former Ford employee pleads guilty to stealing $50M in trade secrets

Filed under: Government/Legal, Ford

FordAccording to the Department of Justice, 49 year-old Mike Yu has pleaded guilty to two counts of theft of trade secrets. Yu worked as a product engineer for Ford for 10 years before accepting a job with another company, but when he left the Blue Oval, he took more than his family photos with him when he walked out the door. The engineer copied over 4,000 Ford documents onto an external hard drive before letting the company know of his new employer. Those documents included proprietary information on everything from engine and transmission mounting designs to electrical systems and full body shells. Yu began working for Beijing Automotive Company in 2008.

Yu returned to the United States in November of that same year, and was arrested upon his arrival. The Federal Bureau of Investigation found a Beijing Automotive Company laptop among Yu’s possessions at that time with 41 Ford design specification documents on its hard drive. Yu had apparently accessed those documents while working for the company.

Under his plea agreement, Yu faces up to six and a half years in prison and a $150,000 fine in addition to an agreed loss amount of between $50 million and $100 million. The former engineer will be deported after his prison time is up. Follow the jump to read the official government statement.

[Source: The Department of Justice]

Continue reading Former Ford employee pleads guilty to stealing $50M in trade secrets

Former Ford employee pleads guilty to stealing $50M in trade secrets originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Nov 2010 13:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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