Former US Navy sailor jailed for 16 years for selling ship secrets to Chinese contact
Jinchao Wei, 25, provided information about the USS Essex and other ships in exchange for about US$12,000
A former US Navy sailor convicted of selling technical and operating manuals for ships and operating systems to an intelligence officer working for China was sentenced Monday to more than 16 years in prison, prosecutors said.
A federal judge in San Diego sentenced Jinchao Wei, 25, to 200 months. A federal jury convicted Wei in August of six crimes, including espionage. He was paid more than US$12,000 for the information he sold, the US Department of Justice said in a statement.
Wei, an engineer for the amphibious assault ship USS Essex, was one of two California-based sailors charged on August 3, 2023, with providing sensitive military information to China. The other, Wenheng Zhao, was sentenced to more than two years in 2024 after he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of receiving a bribe in violation of his official duties.
US officials have for years expressed concern about the espionage threat they say the Chinese government posed, bringing criminal cases in recent years against Beijing intelligence operatives who have stolen sensitive government and commercial information, including through illegal hacking.
Wei was recruited via social media in 2022 by an intelligence officer who portrayed himself as a naval enthusiast working for the state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, prosecutors said.