A US Navy officer has been jailed for 27 months and ordered to pay a $5,500 fine for transmitting sensitive military information to an intelligence officer from China in exchange for bribery payments, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao (26) of Monterey Park, California, was sentenced on Monday.
Citing court documents, the Department said in an official statement that he pleaded guilty in October 2023 to one count of conspiring with the intelligence officer and one count of receiving a bribe.
He worked at the Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme and held a US security clearance.
Between August 2021 and at least May 2023, Zhao received at least $14,866 in at least 14 separate bribe payments from the intelligence officer, the Department said.
In exchange for the illicit payments, he secretly collected and transmitted to the intelligence officer sensitive, non-public information regarding US Navy operational security, military trainings and exercises, as well as critical infrastructure.
He entered restricted military and naval installations to collect and record this information.
The Department also said that Zhao destroyed evidence and concealed his relationship with the intelligence officer.
“Zhao betrayed his solemn oath to defend his country and endangered those who serve in the US military,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Department’s National Security Division said in the statement.
“Today, he is being held to account for those crimes. The Justice Department is committed to combatting the Chinese government’s efforts to undermine our nation’s security and holding accountable those who violate our laws as part of those efforts.”
