US Navy Sailor Pleads Guilty to Leaking Secrets to China

A U.S. sailor has changed his plea and admitted he accepted bribes from a Chinese intelligence officer in exchange for leaking sensitive information.

Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, who also goes by the name Thomas, pleaded guilty to one count of receiving a bribe and a count of conspiring with an intelligence officer, according to the U.S. attorney's office for the Central District of California.

The 26-year-old, who had security clearance for information up to the "secret" level, has confessed to receiving at least $14,866 in at least 14 payments from a Chinese agent for passing on information related to naval training and infrastructure between August 2021 and May 2023.

This information included details about an unnamed "large-scale maritime training exercise in the Pacific Theater" and diagrams and blueprints for a radar system in Japan's Okinawa prefecture. He also transmitted photos and video footage involving operational security at a base in Ventura County and on the Navy-owned San Clemente Island.

He admitted to transferring the intelligence through encrypted means, destroying evidence, and keeping his dealings with his Chinese co-conspirator a secret.

Zhao initially pleaded not guilty to the charges after being arrested on August 3.

"Officer Zhao betrayed his country and the men and women of the U.S. Navy by accepting bribes from a foreign adversary, said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada in a press release. Estrada credited investigators with vigilantly discovering the "shameful plot."

Zhao immigrated to the U.S. from China in 2009 and became a naturalized citizen in 2012. Five years later he enlisted in the Navy, where he served as a construction electrician.

The court concluded Zhao's claim the transaction had been "easy money," and the fact he had been trained to report suspicious attempts to obtain such information, demonstrated a "disregard for orders and rules"—even if he hadn't realized his contact was a foreign intelligence agent.

Zhao's sentencing hearing has been set for January 8, 2024. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

In a separate case, another Navy sailor, Jinchao "Patrick" Wei, was taken into custody on August 1 on charges of conspiring to send national security information to a Chinese intelligence officer and handing over national security-related information on the technical layout, systems, and department locations of amphibious assault ship the USS Essex and other vessels from March 2022 up until this year.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Sheppard said during Wei's hearing in August that Wei's mother had told him to comply with the foreign agent's requests in order to someday secure a position in the Chinese government.

Wei, who was also born in China but was not an American citizen when he allegedly began committing the federal offenses, served as a machinist's mate aboard the Essex, stationed in San Diego.

It is not currently known whether the two servicemen were working with the same intelligence officer.

Zhao and Wei's lawyers did respond to Newsweek's request for comment.