Zhang Hao(Photo/People.cn)

San Francisco, July 30– Zhang Hao, a Chinese professor indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice with economic espionage, has been released by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, announced Alston & Bird, his law firm on Thursday.

The law firm wrote in its statement that "Professor Zhang's release comes three weeks after Magistrate Judge Nathanael M. Cousins of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California first ordered his release after careful consideration and imposing certain bail conditions. After Judge Cousins ordered Professor Zhang's release, CBP took custody of Professor Zhang and detained him in California’s Yuba County Jail". 

At a hearing on July 28, Judge Cousins ordered Professor Zhang "released with the expectation that his removal or deportation from the United States will be deferred until the conclusion of his criminal case."

The Court also stated that if the government places Professor Zhang back into detention at some later time, then "this court will craft an appropriate remedy, which will likely be a recommendation to dismiss the indictment."

Zhang was then released by CBP the following day.

The law firm confirmed that under the terms of Zhang’s release, he will remain in the United States, with additional conditions and reporting requirements monitored and supervised by the Court’s Pretrial Services Office.

One lawyer told the reporter that Zhang lost 10 kilograms of weight during the detention period. "Professor Zhang and his family are grateful for his release." wrote the law firm, " He will remain in the U.S. pursuant to the bail conditions set forth by Judge Cousins. He looks forward to his day in court and is confident that once the facts are revealed, he will be exonerated".

Zhang, a professor at Tianjin University, was arrested at Los Angeles International airport on May 16 as he entered the United States to attend a conference in Phoenix, Arizona. In June, Zhang's wife, Fan Liping, wrote that her husband was innocent.

US prosecutors claimed Zhang and his five alleged accomplices stole thin-film bulkacoustic resonator (FBAR) technology from two American companies: Skyworks, where hehad previously worked, and a second company called Avago Technologies.