An Illinois man pleaded not guilty today to taking restricted military data from his former job at a New Jersey technology company and presenting it at two conferences in China.

Sixing Liu worked for L-3 Communication he is charged with exporting defence-related data without a license and lying to authorities. He could get 20 years and currently coppers are trying to keep him locked up before his trial.

Liu was arrested last month and initially was granted bail by a federal judge in Chicago. The government opposed his release and a judge ordered him held in New Jersey on $750,000 bail.

Liu's defense attorney, Valerie Wong, is trying to get him released. According to Wong and information in court filings, Liu is a legal permanent resident of the U.S. who has lived in this country since 1993 after earning a Ph.D. in electrical engineering in China.

Coppers claim that Liu took a laptop to conferences in Chongqing and Shanghai last fall. While there, he allegedly gave presentations that described the technology he was working on. This breached all sorts of US laws.