Former US sailor sentenced to 16 years for selling ship intel to China

A former U.S. 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 $12,000 for the information he sold, the U.S. 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 Aug. 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.

U.S. officials have for years expressed concern about the espionage threat they say the Chinese government poses, 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.

Evidence presented in court showed Wei told a friend that the person was “extremely suspicious” and that it was “quite obviously” espionage. Wei disregarded the friend’s advice to delete the contact and instead moved conversations with the intelligence officer to a different encrypted messaging app Wei believed was more secure, prosecutors said.

Over the course of 18 months, Wei sent the officer photos and videos of the Essex, advised him of the location of various Navy ships and told him about the Essex’s defensive weapons, prosecutors said.

Wei sold the intelligence officer 60 technical and operating manuals, including those for weapons control, aircraft and deck elevators. The manuals contained export control warnings and detailed the operations of multiple systems aboard the Essex and similar ships.

He was a petty officer second class, which is a enlisted sailor’s rank.

The Navy’s website says the Essex is equipped to transport and support a Marine Corps landing force of over 2,000 troops during an air and amphibious assault.

In a letter to the judge before sentencing, Wei apologized and said he shouldn’t have shared anything with the person who he had considered a friend. Wei said “introversion and loneliness” clouded his judgment.

检察官称，一名曾为美国海军效力的士兵因向一名为中国工作的情报官员出售舰船和操作系统的技术及操作手册而被定罪，周一被判处 16 年以上监禁。

圣地亚哥一名联邦法官判处25岁的魏金超200个月监禁。今年8月，联邦陪审团认定魏金超犯有六项罪名，其中包括间谍罪。美国司法部在一份声明中表示，他因出售情报而获得了超过12000美元的报酬。

魏某是两栖攻击舰“埃塞克斯”号的工程师，他是两名于2023年8月3日被控向中国提供敏感军事信息的加州水兵之一。另一名水兵赵文恒于2024年认罪，承认一项共谋罪和一项违反公务受贿罪，被判处两年以上有期徒刑。

多年来，美国官员一直对他们所说的中国政府构成的间谍威胁表示担忧，近年来，美国对窃取敏感政府和商业信息的北京情报人员提起刑事诉讼，其中包括通过非法黑客手段。

检方称，魏某于 2022 年通过社交媒体被一名自称是海军爱好者、就职于国有企业中国船舶工业集团公司的情报人员招募。

法庭提供的证据显示，魏某曾告诉一位朋友，此人“极其可疑”，而且“很明显”是在从事间谍活动。检方称，魏某无视朋友删除联系人的建议，反而将与这位情报官员的对话转移到另一个他认为更安全的加密通讯应用上。

检察官称，在 18 个月的时间里，魏向该军官发送了埃塞克斯号的照片和视频，告知了他各种海军舰艇的位置，并介绍了埃塞克斯号的防御武器。

魏向这位情报官员出售了60份技术和操作手册，其中包括武器控制、飞机和甲板升降机的相关手册。这些手册包含出口管制警告，并详细介绍了“埃塞克斯”号及类似舰艇上多种系统的操作方法。

他是二级士官，这是海军士兵的军衔。

海军网站称，“埃塞克斯”号配备有运输和支援超过 2000 名海军陆战队登陆部队的装备，可用于空中和两栖突击作战。

在宣判前写给法官的一封信中，魏某道歉并表示，他不应该与自己视为朋友的人分享任何事情。魏某说，“内向和孤独”影响了他的判断。