A United States Navy sailor has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring with a Chinese intelligence officer and receiving bribes, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
As reported by Axios, Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, from Monterey Park, California, admitted on Tuesday to engaging in “a corrupt scheme to collect and transmit sensitive U.S. military information to the intelligence officer in violation of his official duties.”
Zhao, possessing a U.S. security clearance, acknowledged receiving nearly $15,000 in bribes from August 2021 to May 2022 while working at the Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, California.
Zhao, also known as “Thomas Zhao,” has been in custody since his arrest and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. His sentencing is scheduled for January 8.
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Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Matthew Olsen, stated, “China’s intelligence services actively target clearance holders across the military, seeking to entice them with money to provide sensitive government information.”
He added that Zhao chose greed over protecting the national security of the U.S. and is now being held accountable for his crimes.
Meanwhile, Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, said Zhao had “betrayed his country and the men and women of the U.S. Navy by accepting bribes from a foreign adversary.”
Larissa Knapp, assistant director of the FBI’s National Security Branch, stated that “Zhao’s guilty plea was an acknowledgment of the betrayal in selling sensitive military information to the Government of China.”
Chinese officials have yet to comment on Zhao’s guilty plea or the U.S. officials’ remarks.
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