CINCINNATI – Charges have been dismissed against a National Weather Service employee accused of illegally accessing a restricted federal computer database containing information about the nation's dams, stealing information and lying to investigators.
A U.S. District Court judge in Ohio on Wednesday granted Tuesday's request by prosecutors to dismiss all charges against Xiafen (SHO'-fehn) Chen. Her trial had been scheduled for next week.
The Wilmington woman pleaded not guilty to charges of illegally accessing a U.S. government computer database, theft of U.S. government property and making materially false statements to federal agents.
Prosecutors had said she illegally accessed restricted information after meeting a former Chinese colleague who wanted information on U.S. dams.
Chen's attorney says Chen didn't provide restricted information to anyone and had legitimate reasons to access the website.
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