Man Sentenced in radioactive Poisoning Case

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Man Sentenced in radioactive Poisoning Case

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A former Brown University graduate student 
who used radioactive iodine to poison his ex-girlfriend was sentenced 
to 10 years of probation Friday. 

Superior Court Judge Francis Darrigan said Cheng Gu, 26, lost his 
chance for a U.S. education, was shamed before his friends and family 
and likely would be deported to China as a result of his crime. A 
prison sentence would serve no purpose, he said. 

Gu's ex-girlfriend, Yuanyuan Xiao, was not hurt because the dose was 
so low. She asked the judge not to impose a harsh sentence. 

``He wanted the iodine to make her ugly so no one else would want 
her,'' prosecutor Stacey Veroni said. ``This isn't a case of a man in 
love or a lovesick defendant. This is a case of domestic violence.'' 

Gu, a molecular pharmacology graduate student, said he stole a 
radioactive isotope of iodine from a Brown lab and spiked his 
girlfriend's food on more than one occasion. 

She was found to be contaminated during a routine procedure performed 
on her before she was to conduct an experiment using radioactive 
materials. Brown's radiation safety officers went to Xiao's apartment 
and found high levels of radiation coming from a dish of leftovers. 

Her roommate, James O'Brien, had also eaten the food, and was found 
to be contaminated as well.

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
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