Hytera Communications, U.S. government reach plea agreement in criminal-conspiracy case

LMR manufacturer Hytera Communications has reached a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), meaning the criminal-conspiracy trial scheduled to begin in three weeks no longer will be necessary, according to a federal court.

Set to begin Feb. 4, the twice-delayed criminal trial was expected to determine whether China-based LMR manufacturer Hytera Communications and seven former employees conspired more than 15 years ago to steal trade secrets from Motorola Solutions—simply known as Motorola at the time—to accelerate development of Hytera’s DMR products.

But a plea agreement has resulted in the scheduled trial—based on a 21-count indictment that was partially unsealed in a federal court in March 2022—being “stricken” from the schedule of Judge John Tharp of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, according to a posting by the court.

“Parties advise that they have reached a plea agreement,” the docket entry before the court states. “Trial date of 2/4/25 and scheduled pretrial conferences are stricken.”

Details of the plea agreement were not disclosed in the docket entry, but a hearing on the matter is scheduled for today—Monday, Jan. 13.

The docket entry describes the defendant in the case as “Gee Siong Kok, et al.” Gee Siong Kok—better known as G.S. Kok—previously pleaded guilty to the criminal-conspiracy count against him and was expected to testify during the trial that he directed co-conspirators to steal Motorola DMR trade secrets and take the information with them to new jobs at Hytera Communications.

Although the docket entry only mentions G.S. Kok as a defendant by name, the docket entry about the plea agreement notes that it is “as to Hytera Communications.” Urgent Communications also spoke with an official with the federal district court who confirmed that the docket entry addressed a plea agreement with Hytera Communications and that the scheduled criminal trial has been stricken.

Prior to the plea agreement, the criminal trial before Judge Tharp was scheduled to begin on Feb. 4 and was expected to last at least four weeks, according to court documents.

This criminal-conspiracy case against Hytera Communications, G.S. Kok and six other individuals that the DoJ identified as alleged co-conspirators is separate from the civil lawsuit filed by Motorola Solutions against Hytera Communications, although much of the relevant information is the same.

In the civil lawsuit, a federal district court jury ruled in 2020 that Hytera Communications was guilty of stealing Motorola trade secrets and copyrighted software, which were then used by Hytera Communications to develop its DMR product line. While the amount of the court award has been adjusted during the past few years, Hytera currently owes Motorola Solutions more than $500 million from the civil case—something Hytera has appealed to the Seventh Circuit Court.