- A US Navy petty officer has been sentenced to greater than 2 years in jail for spying for China.
- Wenheng Zhao, 26, snagged $15,000 in change for plans on a navy train and radar blueprints.
- He was stationed at a naval base in Ventura County, California.
A US Navy sailor has been fined $5,500 and sentenced to 27 months in jail for leaking navy secrets and techniques to Chinese language intelligence, federal prosecutors mentioned on Monday.
Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, pleaded responsible in October 2023 to at least one rely of conspiring with an intelligence officer and one rely of taking a bribe, per court docket paperwork seen by Enterprise Insider.
Zhao, additionally identified by the English identify Thomas, was stationed at a naval base in Port Hueneme, a small seashore metropolis in Ventura County, California.
He took slightly below $15,000 in whole bribes, which had been paid over 14 separate cases between August 2021 and Might 2023, per the Justice Division.
In return, he despatched his Chinese language contact confidential plans for a big navy train within the Indo-Pacific, in addition to blueprints and diagrams for a radar system deployed in Okinawa, Japan, officers mentioned.
Prosecutors mentioned Zhao would speak with the Chinese language intelligence officer utilizing encrypted messaging, and accused him of destroying proof and making an attempt to cover his communications along with his handler.
Zhao is from Monterey Park, California, per prosecutors.
“Zhao selected to betray the oath he took to our nation and put others in danger by offering delicate US info to a PRC intelligence official,” mentioned Larissa Knapp, government assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Nationwide Safety Department.
One other US Navy sailor, Jinchao Wei, also referred to as Patrick, was arrested concurrently Zhao on related fees.
Wei, 22, was working as a machinist’s mate on board the USS Essex, an amphibious assault ship based mostly out of San Diego, per prosecutors.
He’s accused of passing photographs, movies, restore info, and paperwork in regards to the Essex and different Navy vessels to a Chinese language spy since February 2022.
Wei pleaded not responsible in August 2023 to the espionage fees towards him.
Prosecutors have mentioned that Wei was inspired by his mom to proceed his spying on the US Navy when he visited her in Wisconsin for Christmas in 2022.
She believed that the espionage would safe him a place within the Chinese language Communist Occasion, federal prosecutors alleged.
The Chinese language embassy in Washington didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark despatched exterior common enterprise hours.
