US Navy sailor Wenheng Zhao pleads guilty to taking bribe, sharing military data with China
- Wenheng Zhao was accused of accepting nearly US$15,000 in exchange for information involving US Navy exercises, operations and facilities
- The sailor, who worked at Naval Base Ventura County in California, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison
A US Navy sailor charged with providing sensitive military information to China pleaded guilty in Los Angeles on Tuesday to conspiring with a foreign intelligence officer and receiving a bribe, federal prosecutors said.
Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, originally pleaded not guilty when he was charged August 4.
The Justice Department alleges that Zhao, based at Naval Base Ventura County, north of Los Angeles, conspired to collect nearly US$15,000 in bribes from a Chinese intelligence officer in exchange for information, photos and videos of involving US Navy exercises, operations and facilities.
The information included plans for a large-scale US military exercise in the Indo-Pacific region, which detailed the location and timing of naval force movements, prosecutors said.
The Chinese officer told Zhao the information was needed for maritime economic research to inform investment decisions, according to the indictment.
Zhao, who also went by the name Thomas Zhao and held a US security clearance, “admitted he engaged in a corrupt scheme to collect and transmit sensitive US military information to the intelligence officer in violation of his official duties,” the US Attorney’s Office said in a news release on Tuesday.