Ex-IT manager sentenced in 'Joe Data' case
A former Silicon Valley IT manager who used the alias "Joe Data" was sentenced to two years in prison Monday for stealing his company's trade secrets.
Brent Woodard, 35, Oakland, was sentenced in federal court under a plea agreement on one count of theft of trade secrets.
The U.S. Attorney's office said Woodard was IT director at Lightwave Microsystems in San Jose in 2002 when the company announced it was ceasing operations. Woodard admitted he then stole information on company computer backup tapes and offered to sell it to Lightwave competitor JDS-Uniphase.
He was arrested by the FBI after JDS tipped them off that they had been contacted by e-mail by someone using the name "Joe Data."
Lightwave has since been bought out by Neophotonics Corp.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
