US Navy sailor who spied for China gets two years in prison for sharing military secrets

A United States Navy sailor who pleaded guilty to spying on behalf of China was sentenced to 27 months in prison, according to a Monday press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, was stationed at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, California, when he began accepting bribes from a Chinese intelligence officer in exchange for providing sensitive U.S. military secrets, Blaze News previously reported. Between August 2021 and May 2023, Zhao received $14,866 from the foreign officer.

Zhao, a naturalized American citizen born in China, used his U.S. security clearance to provide the Chinese intelligence officer with non-public information regarding operational security, military training, and critical infrastructure, the DOJ reported.

"Zhao entered restricted military and naval installations to collect and record this information," the agency stated. "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."

According to the DOJ, Zhao "used sophisticated encrypted communication methods" to communicate with the foreign intelligence officer and "destroyed evidence" to conceal their relationship.

Zhao pleaded guilty in October to one count of conspiring with an intelligence officer and one count of receiving a bribe, which carried a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison, Blaze News previously reported.

Tarek Shawky, Zhao's attorney, asked for his client to receive 12 months in prison, while the DOJ sought 37 months, according to the New York Post.

Shawky told Courthouse News Services, "[Zhao's] ready to take responsibility for what he has done."

"He trusted somebody he shouldn't have trusted and made some poor decisions," he added.

On Monday, Zhao received a 27-month sentence and was ordered to pay a $5,500 fine.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division said, "Mr. Zhao betrayed his solemn oath to defend his country and endangered those who serve in the U.S. military."

"Today, he is being held to account for those crimes. The Justice Department is committed to combatting the Chinese government's efforts to undermine our nation's security and holding accountable those who violate our laws as part of those efforts," Olsen remarked.

Executive Assistant Director Larissa L. Knapp of the FBI's National Security Branch warned that the People's Republic of China "is engaged in an aggressive effort to undermine the national security of the U.S. and its partners."

"The Chinese Communist Party has repeatedly shown it will freely break any law or norm to achieve a perceived intelligence advantage," Knapp noted.

In August, the DOJ reported that, in a separate case, another U.S. Navy sailor, Jinchao Wei, was arrested on espionage charges. Wei was stationed at Naval Base San Diego as a machinist's mate on the U.S.S. Essex when he allegedly provided sensitive information about the ship's weapons, propulsion, and desalination system to a Chinese intelligence officer. Wei subsequently pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to the Times of San Diego.

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