Judge to decide whether retired PPG worker remains jailed
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PITTSBURGH (AP) – A federal magistrate in Pittsburgh was scheduled to decide whether a retired PPG researcher will remain jailed until he stand trial on federal charges that he stole trade secrets worth hundreds of millions of dollars for a Chinese company.
Tuesday’s detention hearing was previously postponed at the request of the defense attorney for 62-year-old Thomas Rukavina, of Plum. That was done so Rukavina could undergo a mental health evaluation. Defense attorney Lee Rothman says Rukavina has “some mental health issues.”
Rukavina was arrested May 7, and indicted two weeks later for allegedly stealing trade secrets from PPG Industries Inc. related to plastic windows that can be used on aircraft and high-speed trains.
The magistrate must decide Tuesday whether Rukavina is too much of a flight risk or danger to the community to be freed pending trial.