US Navy sailor sentenced to 27 months for selling secrets to China
- Wenheng Zhao was sentenced to 27 months in prison and a $5,500 fine
- Zhao admitted to selling sensitive, nonpublic information to China
- DOJ: 'Zhao betrayed his solemn oath to defend his country'
The entrance to the Naval Base Ventura County, pictured in am undated photo provided by the U.S. Department of Defense.
(KTLA)
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(NewsNation) — A U.S. Navy sailor from California who pleaded guilty to selling sensitive military information to an intelligence officer from China in October was sentenced to 27 months in prison and ordered to pay a $5,500 fine, the Department of Justice announced.
Between Aug. 2021 and at least May 2023, Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26 — also known as Thomas Zhao — gave the intelligence officer sensitive, nonpublic information regarding the Navy’s operational security, military trainings, exercises and critical infrastructure, according to the DOJ.
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.
He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring with the intelligence officer and one count of receiving a bribe.
“Mr. Zhao betrayed his solemn oath to defend his country and endangered those who serve in the U.S. military,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Today, he is being held to account for those crimes.”
NewsNation’s Cassie Buchman contributed to this report.