How Does a Navy Sailor Spying for China Come Away With Only 2 Years in Prison; US Sailor Sentenced to 27 Months in Prison for Selling Military Secrets to China

How Does a Navy Sailor Spying for China Come Away With Only 2 Years in Prison?

Zhao transmitted the specific location and timing of US Navy movements and radar blueprints.

I have no idea why the DOJ is putting out a press release about this. It seems more like the sort of thing to never mention again.

A U.S. Navy service member was sentenced today to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay a $5,500 fine for transmitting sensitive U.S. military information to an intelligence officer from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in exchange for bribery payments.

According to court documents, Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, aka Thomas Zhao, of Monterey Park, California, pleaded guilty in October 2023 to one count of conspiring with the intelligence officer and one count of receiving a bribe.

Between August 2021 and at least May 2023, Zhao received at least $14,866 in at least 14 separate bribe payments from the intelligence officer. In exchange for the illicit payments, Zhao secretly collected and transmitted to the intelligence officer sensitive, non-public information regarding U.S. Navy operational security, military trainings and exercises, and critical infrastructure. Zhao entered restricted military and naval installations to collect and record this information.

Zhao transmitted plans for a large-scale maritime training exercise in the Pacific theatre, operational orders and electrical diagrams and blueprints for a Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar system located in Okinawa, Japan.

He used sophisticated encrypted communication methods to transmit the information. He also destroyed evidence and concealed his relationship with the intelligence officer. Zhao’s conduct violated his official duties to protect such information and the oath he swore to protect the United States.

And for that he gets two years. And a fine that’s about a third of the money he got for his treason.

Some people have gotten more than this for petty crimes. —>READ MORE HERE

US sailor sentenced to 27 months in prison for selling military secrets to China:

A US Navy serviceman who admitted to accepting bribes from a Chinese intelligence officer in exchange for sensitive US military information has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison.

US District Judge R. Gary Klausner on Monday handed down the 27-month prison sentence to Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, of Monterey Park, Calif.

The Justice Department had sought a sentence of 37 months, arguing that Zhao had obstructed the government’s investigation.

In October, Zhao pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring with a Chinese intelligence officer and one count of receiving a bribe, both felonies.

The sailor admitted to receiving nearly $15,000 in bribes from the intelligence officer between August 2021 and May 2023, when he worked at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, Calif.

Zhao, who held a security clearance, secretly collected and transmitted information to China related to Navy operational security, military trainings and critical infrastructure, according to the Justice Department.

He specifically confessed to passing on plans for a large-scale maritime training exercise in the Pacific theater, operational orders, and electrical diagrams and blueprints for a Japanese radar system.

“Officer Zhao betrayed his country and the men and women of the US Navy by accepting bribes from a foreign adversary,” US Attorney Martin Estrada said at the time of Zhao’s guilty plea. “While he and the PRC officer he served took great pains to conceal their corrupt scheme, investigators were vigilant in uncovering this shameful plot.” —>READ MORE HERE

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