An active-duty U.S. Navy sailor was convicted of espionage by a federal jury on Wednesday, according to a Department of Justice press release.
Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class Jinchao Wei, 25, who was stationed at Naval Base San Diego, sold Navy secrets to a Chinese intelligence officer for $12,000 over the course of 18 months.
“The defendant’s actions represent an egregious betrayal of the trust placed in him as a member of the U.S. military,” Adam Gordon, the United States attorney for the Southern District of California, said in a statement on Wednesday. “By trading military secrets to the People’s Republic of China for cash, he jeopardized not only the lives of his fellow sailors but also the security of the entire nation and our allies.”
Wei was convicted of six crimes, including conspiracy to commit espionage, espionage and unlawful export of, and conspiracy to export, technical data related to defense articles in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the release said.
He was arrested in August 2023 on espionage charges as he arrived for work at the amphibious assault ship Essex at Naval Base San Diego, California.
Wei began his criminal plot on Feb. 14, 2022, when he engaged in communication on social media with a Chinese intelligence officer who claimed to work for the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. Regardless of officer’s feigned identity, evidence presented during court proceedings outlined Wei’s understanding of the officer’s ulterior motive, according to the release.
This was shortly after he was briefed through counterintelligence training that foreign adversaries might try to recruit him through social media, according to early Military Times reporting, which cited his indictment.
Wei, who possessed a U.S. security clearance and was privy to national defense information about the Essex’s weapons systems and infrastructure, informed another U.S. Navy petty officer that he’d been tasked with spying on behalf of the People’s Republic of China.
On Feb. 22, 2022, Wei told the sailor that he was going to make $500 for providing intel to an individual who appeared to be a Chinese intelligence officer and that he was aware his conduct was illegal.
“This is quite obviously fucking espionage,” Wei said to his fellow service member.
The sailor told Wei he should delete the intelligence officer’s number from his phone and walk away.
Wei instead doubled down, commencing his spying campaign and switching to an encrypted messaging platform for communication with the intelligence officer, whom he referred to as “Big Brother Andy.”
Between March 2022 and August 2023, when Wei was arrested, Wei sent the Chinese intelligence officer photos and videos of the Essex, locations of multiple Navy ships and sensitive intel about the Essex’s defense systems.
Wei raided restricted U.S. Navy computers — stealing and sending thousands of pages of information about U.S. Navy warships to the officer — and informed the latter about the potential weaknesses of other Navy vessels.
Wei collected $12,000 over 18 months, selling the Chinese intelligence officer 60 technical and operating manuals about Navy ships.
The government proved Wei’s legal culpability, demonstrating that he knew the treasonous ramifications of his actions.
On Feb. 5, 2023, Wei texted his mother, boasting of his financial windfall, according to another press release the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California sent Military Times in an email.
“Other Chinese serving in the US Navy are still trying to figure out how to make extra money, and driving cabs,” he wrote. “Whereas I am just leaking secrets.”
Wei even combed the internet for another case involving a U.S. Navy sailor convicted of espionage, reading a Department of Justice press release similar to the one he would find himself in years later.
Upon his arrest, Wei admitted guilt, acknowledging that his decision to provide secrets to China was espionage and patently wrong.
“I’m screwed,” he told FBI agents during an interview after he was taken into custody.
Wei is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 1, at 9 a.m.
The 14 witnesses who spoke during the trial included FBI agents, Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officers, U.S. Navy officers and civilians and U.S. State Department officials.
The FBI and Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigated the case.
The case is being prosecuted by the Assistant U.S. Attorney John Parmley from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California and Trial Attorney Adam Barry from the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.
