U.S. Navy sailor pleads guilty to selling secrets to China

(NewsNation) — A U.S. Navy sailor from California pleaded guilty earlier this week to selling sensitive military information to an intelligence officer from China, the Department of Justice said.

Between Aug. 2021 and at least May 2023, Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, also known as Thomas Zhao, of Monterey Park, California, gave the intelligence officer sensitive, nonpublic information regarding the Navy’s operational security, military trainings, exercises and critical infrastructure, the Justice Department said.

Specifically, Zhao admitted to telling the officer about plans for a large-scale maritime training exercise in the Pacific theatre and electrical diagrams and blueprints for a Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar system in Okinawa, Japan.

Using encrypted communication methods, Zhao, who worked at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, was able to destroy evidence and conceal his relationship with the intelligence officer, the Justice Department said.

In exchange for this information, the department said, Zhao received at least $14,866 in at least 14 separate bribes.

“Officer Zhao betrayed his country and the men and women of the U.S. Navy by accepting bribes from a foreign adversary,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California said in a statement. “Today’s resolution, requiring Zhao to plead guilty to all charges against him, shows that we will act swiftly and decisively to protect our nation from those who seek to undermine our security.”

Zhao, in custody since being arrested in August, is scheduled to be sentenced in January. He is charged with one count of conspiring with a foreign intelligence officer and one for receiving a bribe, which could land him up to 20 years in prison.