US Navy sailor betrays America: Jinchao Wei sentenced for spying for China – inside the secret mission

A former US Navy sailor, Jinchao Wei, also known as Patrick Wei, has been sentenced to 200 months in prison for selling sensitive military information to a Chinese intelligence officer.

25-year-old Wei was convicted by a federal jury in August 2025 following a five-day trial and one day of deliberation. He was arrested in August 2023 as he arrived for work on the amphibious assault ship USS Essex at Naval Base San Diego.

The Justice Department said Wei received over $12,000 for transmitting national defence information. The evidence presented at trial showed that he sent photographs, videos, and thousands of pages of technical and operational manuals about US Navy ships to a Chinese intelligence officer between March 2022 and August 2023. The materials included details on weapons, propulsion, steering, aircraft and deck elevators, desalination systems, and damage-control procedures. Many manuals contained export-control warnings.

“Members of the United States military swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.

He added: “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. We stand ready to investigate, defend, and protect the interests of the American people.”

Wei held a US security clearance that gave him access to sensitive national defence information. Amphibious assault ships like the Essex allow the Navy to project power and maintain an expeditionary presence, making the data he shared more important.

Evidence showed that Wei was recruited on February 14, 2022, by a Chinese intelligence officer who initially posed as a naval enthusiast working for the state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. Wei suspected the true nature of the contact and even warned a Navy friend that he was “on the radar of a China intelligence organisation” and that the person’s requests were too obvious. Despite this, he continued communications using encrypted messaging apps and began sharing sensitive information.

Wei used secret digital methods to hide his activities, including digital “dead drops” that disappeared within 72 hours and new computers and phones provided by his handler. He even created hand-written receipts to document payments for the stolen information. In a post-arrest interview, Wei admitted, “I’m screwed,” and later said, “That I’m sharing the unclassified document to—I mean document with, uhm, him . . . I’m not supposed to do that.”

During the trial, Wei was convicted of six counts, including conspiracy to commit espionage, espionage, and unlawful export of technical defence data. He was found not guilty of one count of naturalisation fraud. FBI Special Agent Mark Dargis said, “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.”