Ex-Navy Sailor Gets 16-Year Sentence for Selling U.S. Naval Secrets to China
A former U.S. Navy Sailor was sentenced to more than 16 years in federal prison for selling U.S. secrets to China.
25-year-old Jinchao Wei, also known as Patrick Wei, was convicted in August on multiple charges including conspiracy to commit espionage and espionage. Wei is a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China. He joined the Navy in 2021 and worked as a machinist's mate aboard the USS Essex in San Diego, holding a security clearance.
Prosecutors say that over an 18-month period from 2022 to 2023, Wei gave a Chinese military intelligence officer dozens of sensitive manuals, technical reports, and photos of Navy surface ships.
“This active-duty U.S. Navy sailor betrayed his country and compromised the national security of the United States. The Justice Department will not tolerate this behavior,” said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Weapons Details, Ship Locations Revealed
According to court documents, Wei began corresponding with a man he called “Big Brother Andy” on encrypted messaging apps. That man was a Chinese intelligence officer posing as a navy enthusiast working for a Chinese state-owned shipbuilding company. A friend reportedly told Wei that the contact was suspicious, but prosecutors say Wei moved the conversation to a different app.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) says Wei provided the man with a trove of information in exchange for $12,000. Information shared included details on the ship’s weapons, propulsion, and desalination systems, descriptions of the ship’s defensive weapons, 60 technical and operating manuals, and photos of the ship and locations of other U.S. Navy ships.
Wei and the Chinese operative also spoke about the need for secrecy and payment.
“Today’s sentence marks the conclusion of a first-of-its-kind espionage investigation in the district and reflects the seriousness of Wei’s egregious actions against his own country,” said Special Agent in Charge Mark Dargis of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “The FBI will aggressively defend our homeland from anyone threatening our national security, including those on the inside betraying their sworn duty to the United States.”
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), with assistance from the State Department, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).