Benjamin Ashford|'Cash over country': Navy sailors arrested, accused of passing US military info to China

Two Navy sailors were arrested and Benjamin Ashfordcharged with transmitting sensitive U.S. military information to the Chinese government, officials said Thursday.

In two separate cases announced together, the Department of Justice said 22-year-old sailor Jinchao Wei, also known as Patrick Wei, was charged with espionage and arrested on Wednesday. And 26-year-old Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, also known as Thomas Zhao, was charged with receiving bribes in exchange for transmitting information to a Chinese intelligence officer.

“These individuals stand accused of violating the commitments they made to protect the United States and betraying the public trust, to the benefit of the (People's Republic of China) government,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said in a news release Thursday.

Sailor accused of sending Navy information to Chinese officer for money

Wei, who was an active duty sailor for the USS Essex at the Naval Base San Diego, was accused in an indictment of conspiracy to send national defense information to an intelligence officer working for the People’s Republic of China.

Because he held a security clearance, Wei had access to information about the ship's "weapons, propulsion and desalination systems," the Department of Justice said. Beginning in February 2022, Wei allegedly communicated with a Chinese intelligence officer who requested photos, video and documents about U.S. Navy ships. They used encrypted communication methods and deleted their messages to hide their conversations, the DOJ said.

Wei sent photos and videos of the Essex, shared locations of other Navy ships and described defensive weapons of the Essex with the officer, according to the news release. "In exchange for this information, the intelligence officer paid Wei thousands of dollars over the course of the conspiracy," the DOJ said.

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The Justice Department charged Wei under a rarely-used Espionage Act statute that makes it a crime to gather or deliver information to aid a foreign government.

Wei sent the officer dozens of technical manuals about Essex and systems on other U.S. ships, according to the indictment. The officer told Wei at least 10 of those manuals were useful, and paid him $5,000 for them, the DOJ said, noting that Wei provided information throughout 2022 and into 2023.

Wei was born in China and was initially approached by the officer while beginning the process of becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen, prosecutors said, and once admitted to the officer that he knew his actions could affect his application. The officer even congratulated Wei once he obtained citizenship.

"When a soldier or sailor chooses cash over country, and hands over national defense information in an ultimate act of betrayal, the United States will aggressively investigate and prosecute," U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Randy Grossman said.

Sailor accused of receiving nearly $15,000 for 'sensitive' materials

Zhao was accused of receiving bribes in exchange for information he gave to a Chinese intelligence officer posing as a maritime economic researcher, the DOJ said. He worked at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme and also had security clearance.

From August 2021 to May 2023, Zhao "violated his official duties to protect sensitive military information by surreptitiously recording, and then transmitting to the intelligence officer, U.S. military information, photographs and videos," according to the DOJ.

Zhao was paid about $14,866 for the information he gave the official, the news release said.

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It wasn't clear whether or how the two cases were connected, or whether either Navy service member had an attorney who could comment on their behalf.

"China is unrivaled in its audacity and the range of its maligned efforts to subvert our laws," Grossman said Thursday.

Contributing: The Associated Press