A federal judge sentenced a former US Navy sailor on Monday to more than 16 years in prison for selling military secrets to China in return for $12,000, the US Justice Department said.
Jinchao Wei, a machinist’s mate on the amphibious assault ship USS Essex, sent photographs and videos of US Navy vessels, ship movement information, technical manuals and weapons capabilities to a Chinese intelligence officer between 2022 and 2023, according to US officials.
He was arrested in August 2023 and found guilty on espionage charges by a federal jury in California last August.
A judge on Monday sentenced him to 200 months in prison.
“This active-duty US Navy sailor betrayed his country and compromised the national security of the United States,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.
“The Justice Department will not tolerate this behavior.”
US officials said Wei was recruited via social media by a Chinese intelligence officer “who at first portrayed himself as a naval enthusiast” working for the state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation.
Wei reportedly told a friend that he thought he was “on the radar of a China intelligence organization” and that he was in contact with an “extremely suspicious” person.
Officials said Wei after his arrest admitted to giving the Chinese officer “thousands of pages of technical and operating manuals and export-controlled data about US Navy surface warfare ships.” He was paid $12,000 for the information.
Another sailor arrested alongside Wei, Wenheng Zhao, pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy and bribery charges and was sentenced to 27 months in prison.
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