US Sailor Sentenced for Sending Military Secrets to China

Navy Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay a $5,500 fine for sending U.S. military information to a Chinese intelligence officer, DOJ announced. Zhao pleaded guilty in October to one count of conspiring with an intelligence officer and one count of receiving a bribe, DOJ said.

From August 2021 to May 2023, while working at the Naval Base Ventura County in California, Zhao received at least $14,866 in at least 14 separate bribe payments from the Chinese intelligence officer. After receiving the payments, Zhao shipped sensitive information regarding "U.S. Navy operational security, military trainings and exercises, and critical infrastructure," DOJ said.

Zhao sent 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." Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said DOJ is committed "to combating the Chinese government's efforts to undermine our nation's security and holding accountable those who violate our laws as part of those efforts."