US Navy officer who helped China is sentenced to 2 years in prison
A U.S. Navy officer who sent an intelligence officer working for the Chinese government photos of U.S. military installations and details of Navy training exercises in Asia was sentenced Monday to more than two years in prison.
The 27-month sentence imposed by the federal court on US officer Wenheng Zhao, also known as Thomas, was lighter than those imposed on other US citizens convicted over the years of spying for China. In 2019, a former CIA officer, Kevin Patrick Mallory, received more than 20 years in prison.
The case is a reminder of a broader spy shadow war that has accompanied the growing rivalry between China and the United States.
U.S. officials are concerned in part because China has built up its core intelligence service and invested in broader recruitment, including of U.S. citizens. Beijing, in turn, has offered rewards of tens of thousands of dollars to Chinese citizens who report spies, as part of a call for mass vigilance against foreign enemies.
In the case of Mr. Zhao, an electrician who worked at Naval Base Ventura County in California, prosecutors said he received nearly $15,000 from the intelligence officer working for the Chinese government between August 2021 and at least May 2023.
In return, Zhao, 26, used encrypted communications methods to send his handler sensitive information, including photos and videos of restricted areas in military installations, and plans for U.S. naval exercises in Asia, according to an indictment filed in July that did not . disclose the name of the practitioner.
Mr. Zhao also sent his handler details of U.S. Navy ship movements and blueprints of the electrical system that housed a radar system at a U.S. naval base on the Japanese island of Okinawa, the indictment said.
Mr. Zhao, who held the rank of petty officer second class, was charged last summer in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of receiving bribes. The charges carried a maximum prison sentence of 20 years if convicted, plus probation and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.
In a plea agreement filed in October, federal prosecutors said they would recommend a lighter sentence as long as Mr. Zhao agreed to plead guilty, which he did. In addition to the 27-month prison sentence, he was fined $5,500.
Mr. Zhao’s lawyer, Tarek Shawky, said in an email late Monday that the defense team was disappointed because it had expected a shorter prison sentence — 12 to 18 months — which he said would have been in line with a recommendation from probation officers.
“Mr. Zhao is remorseful and accepts responsibility, and we continue to expect a sentence that is consistent with the applicable law, facts and guidelines,” Mr. Shawky said.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the case, and the court could not immediately be reached for comment. A spokeswoman for the U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii referred questions to the Pacific Fleet, which did not immediately respond to an inquiry.
The Justice Department has said Chinese intelligence agencies are trying to undermine U.S. national security by targeting members of the U.S. military who have security clearances. The Department said in a statement On Monday, he said Mr. Zhao’s sentence illustrates China’s inability to stop American officials from arresting and prosecuting the country’s recruited spies.
China typically says such accusations are slander and that the United States is the world’s largest spy power.
When the Justice Department announced Mr. Zhao’s arrest in August, it announced a separate espionage case it was pursuing against Jinchao Wei, a U.S. Navy sailor in his early 20s who was assigned to an amphibious assault ship and worked out of the Pacific Fleet . headquarters in San Diego. That case, in which Mr. Wei, known as Patrick, could face life in prison if convicted, is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.
Prosecutors in Mr. Wei’s case have said that he accepted thousands of dollars from an intelligence officer working for the Chinese government. They say his actions included revealing the locations of Navy ships and sending photos and videos of the ship he was stationed on at the time, the USS Essex.
Claire Fu research contributed.