Former Navy sentenced to over 16 years for spying for China
The man is Jinchao Wei, 25, also known as Patrick Wei, who was arrested in August 2023 on espionage charges when he arrived to work on the amphibious assault ship USS Essex at Naval Base San Diego, homeport of the Pacific Fleet.
Department of Justice
The Department of Justice reported that a former U.S. Navy sailor was sentenced in federal court to more than 16 years in prison for spying for China. He is Jinchao Wei, 25, also known as Patrick Wei, who was arrested in August 2023 on espionage charges when he arrived to work on the amphibious assault ship USS Essex at Naval Base San Diego, home port of the Pacific Fleet.
"Members of the United States military swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States (...) This active-duty U.S. Navy sailor betrayed his country and compromised the national security of the United States. The Justice Department will not tolerate this behavior. We stand ready to investigate, defend, and protect the interests of the American people," Assistant Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.
In that regard, it was learned that after a five-day trial and one day of deliberations, the jury convicted Wei of six offenses, including conspiracy to commit espionage and illegal export of technical data related to defense articles, in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. He was found not guilty of one count of naturalization fraud.
"According to evidence presented at trial, Wei, in his role as a machinist’s mate, held a U.S. security clearance and had access to sensitive national defense information about the ship’s weapons, propulsion and desalination systems. Amphibious assault ships like the Essex resemble small aircraft carriers and allow the U.S. military to project power and maintain presence by serving as the cornerstone of the U.S. Navy’s amphibious readiness and expeditionary strike capabilities," the Justice Department detailed.
The document also detailed that evidence showed that between March 2022 and his arrest in August 2023, Wei, at the request of a Chinese intelligence officer, sent photographs and videos of the Essex, briefed him on the location of several Navy ships and described the Essex's defensive weapons.
"He also described problems with his ship and other ships based at Naval Base San Diego and elsewhere. And, he sent the intelligence officer thousands of pages of technical and operational information about U.S. Navy surface warfare ships like the Essex that he took from restricted U.S. Navy computer systems.," the department said.
He received more than $12,000 for the information
"These manuals contained export control warnings and detailed the operations of multiple systems aboard the Essex and similar ships, including power, steering, weapons control, aircraft and deck elevators, as well as damage and casualty controls."
In total, according to authorities, Wei sold the intelligence officer approximately 60 technical and operational manuals about U.S. Navy ships, as well as dozens of photographs and documents about the U.S. Navy and Wei's assignments on the Essex. Many of the manuals contained conspicuous export control warnings on their covers.
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