A San Diego-based former Navy sailor convicted of spying for China was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for his role in supplying secrets to China, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
China-born Jinchao Wei was convicted of espionage in federal court in August while working on the USS Essex, an amphibious assault vessel based at Naval Base San Diego, homeport of the Pacific Fleet.
“This active-duty U.S. Navy sailor betrayed his country and compromised the national security of the United States,” said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
“The Justice Department will not tolerate this behavior. We stand ready to investigate, defend and protect the interests of the American people.”
Evidence at trial revealed that Wei, a machinist mate, held a security clearance and had access to national defense information, including details on the small aircraft carrier’s weapons, propulsion and desalination systems.
Wei, 25, was convicted of six crimes, including espionage, conspiracy to commit espionage, unlawful export of, and conspiracy to export, technical defense data.
According to court documents, in February 2022, Wei was recruited through social media by a Chinese intelligence officer posing as a naval enthusiast with the state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation.
Evidence in the case revealed that from the earliest stages of the operation, Wei suspected he was working with a Chinese intelligence officer.
Despite advice from a friend to avoid contact, Wei shifted contact to an encrypted messaging application and began spying for China.
Between March 2022 and his arrest in August 2023, Wei supplied photographs and videos of the Essex, advised the Chinese officer of the location of various Navy ships, and described the defensive weapons used by the Essex.
Other information supplied to Beijing included reports of problems with the Essex and other Navy warships in San Diego.
The compromises also included sending thousands of pages of technical and operational information about U.S. warships stolen through access to restricted Navy computer systems.
For the information Wei was paid more than $12,000 over 18 months.
Among the more sensitive data sold were at least 30 technical and operating manuals on Navy systems.
The manuals provided details on the operations of multiple systems aboard the Essex and similar ships, including power, steering, weapons control, aircraft and deck elevators, as well as damage and casualty controls.
The information would be useful to the Chinese military amid heightened tensions over a potential conflict over Taiwan, two retired Navy officials testified during the trial.
The Navy officials said Wei compromised information that will allow the People’s Liberation Army to understand how to operate Navy amphibious assault ships. The information could permit the PLA to “leapfrog” in building amphibious assault ships that could have dramatic impact for the PLA’s ability to project and use military power.
The information also could help the PLA more effectively target U.S. Navy amphibious assault ships in military attacks.
“At bottom, Defendant’s crimes were deliberate, continuous, and deeply damaging,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John N. Parmley stated in a sentencing memorandum that asked for a 22-year prison term for Wei.
Investigators revealed during the trial phone conversations, electronic messages, and audio messages Wei exchanged with his Chinese handler.
The messages discussed the need for secrecy and efforts to avoid detection.
Trial evidence also showed that Chinese intelligence paid for Wei and his mother to travel to China.
Security and intelligence officials praised the sentencing as sending a message to other potential spies.
John A. Eisenberg, assistant attorney general for national security, said Wei compromised sensitive Navy information by selling secrets to a Chinese intelligence officer for personal gain.
“Today’s sentence reflects our commitment to ensuring those who sell our Nation’s secrets pay a very high price for their betrayal,” Mr. Eisenberg said.
Omar Lopez, director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, said Wei shared thousands of documents, operating manuals and export-controlled and sensitive information with a Chinese intelligence officer and knowingly betrayed fellow service members and the American people.
Special Agent in Charge Mark Dargis, with the FBI San Diego Field Office, said the sentencing of Wei concluded a “first-of-its-kind” spy case in the region and “reflects the seriousness of Wei’s egregious actions against his own country.”
A lawyer for Wei did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wei stated in a letter to Judge Marilyn L. Huff prior to sentencing that he has reflected on “how stupid, naïve and careless I was” and that he is sorry for his crimes.
“Someone built a relationship with me I wholeheartedly believed to be a friend who shared a maritime interest,” he stated in the handwritten letter. “I should never share anything with him.”
Wei’s mother, Mingli Wei, told the court in a pre-sentencing letter to the court that Wei was born in China and moved to Wisconsin in 2016.
Wei held the rank of E4 and during his time in custody “as a devoted Christian, he continued to study and read the Bible regularly.”
• Bill Gertz can be reached at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.
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