Sailor Spy Sentenced To Sixteen Years In Prison

 Counterterrorism magazine published my piece on a former sailor turned spy Jinchao Wei (seen in the above photo) who was sentenced to sixteen years in prison.

You can read the piece via the below pages or the following text:  

Sailor Spy Sentenced to Sixteen Years in Prison

By Paul Davis

I spoke to a retired naval officer, who like other active duty, retired and former U.S. Navy sailors, was angry upon hearing about Jinchao Wei, a sailor-turned-spy for the Chinese.

The retired naval officer, a “Mustang” officer who previously served as an enlisted man in the Navy, told me that Wei should have been punished far more than a prison sentence. 

“This spy and traitor should face a firing squad.”

As a Navy veteran who served on an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War, I understand the anger. We all swore to defend the country and the Constitution, and those of us who held secret clearances signed an agreement never to divulge Navy secrets.

Also, as a Defense Department civilian employee who performed security work for more than 33 years after serving four years in the Navy, I worked diligently to prevent our countries’ adversaries from obtaining classified information. But even the best security procedures and the best security people can fail to detect the insider threat – a dishonest and disloyal military member, a DOD civilian employee, or a defense contractor.   

Wei dishonored himself and committed an act of espionage when he passed information to a Chinese intelligence officer.     

On January 12, Jinchao Wei, a former U.S. Navy sailor who was convicted of espionage by a federal jury in August 2025, was sentenced in federal court today to 200 months in prison.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, Wei, 25, also known as Patrick Wei, was arrested in August 2023 on espionage charges as he arrived for work on the amphibious assault ship U.S.S. Essex at Naval Base San Diego, the homeport of the Pacific Fleet.

He was indicted by a federal grand jury, accused of selling national defense information to an intelligence officer working for the People’s Republic of China for $12,000.

“Following a five-day trial and one day of deliberation, the jury convicted Wei of six crimes, including conspiracy to commit espionage, espionage, and unlawful export of, and conspiracy to export, technical data related to defense articles in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. He was found not guilty of one count of naturalization fraud,” the Justice Department stated.

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

According to evidence presented at trial, Wei, in his role as a machinist’s mate, held a U.S. security clearance and had access to sensitive national defense information about the ship’s weapons, propulsion and desalination systems. Amphibious assault ships like the Essex resemble small aircraft carriers and allow the U.S. military to project power and maintain presence by serving as the cornerstone of the U.S. Navy’s amphibious readiness and expeditionary strike capabilities.

“On February 14, 2022, Wei was recruited by a Chinese intelligence officer via social media who at first portrayed himself as a naval enthusiast who worked for the state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. The evidence showed that even during the early days of his espionage career, Wei strongly suspected the intelligence officer’s true identity and motive,” the Justice Department noted. “

On February 22, 2022, Wei told a friend who was also in the U.S. Navy that he thought he was “on the radar of a China intelligence organization,” as he was in contact with an individual who was “extremely suspicious,” “interested in the maintenance cycle of naval ships,” and wanted him to “walk the pier” to “see which ships are docked” on a “daily basis.” Wei said that this person would pay him $500. Wei told his friend that he is “no idiot” and that “this is quite obviously fucking espionage.”

Wei’s friend suggested that Wei delete the contact. Instead of heeding his friend’s advice, the next day Wei transitioned his communications with the intelligence officer to a different encrypted messaging application that he believed was more secure and began spying for the intelligence officer.

“The evidence showed that between March 2022 and when he was arrested in August 2023, Wei, at the request of the intelligence officer, sent photographs and videos of the Essex, advised the officer of the location of various Navy ships, and described the defensive weapons of the Essex. He also described problems with his ship and other ships based at Naval Base San Diego and elsewhere. And, he sent the intelligence officer thousands of pages of technical and operational information about U.S. Navy surface warfare ships like the Essex that he took from restricted U.S. Navy computer systems,” stated the Justice Department.

“In exchange for this information, the officer paid Wei more than $12,000 over 18 months. In one of his larger thefts of U.S. Navy data, Wei sold the intelligence officer at least 30 technical and operating manuals about U.S. Navy systems. These manuals contained export control warnings and detailed the operations of multiple systems aboard the Essex and similar ships, including power, steering, weapons control, aircraft and deck elevators, as well as damage and casualty controls.

“In total, Wei sold the intelligence officer approximately 60 technical and operating manuals about U.S. Navy ships, as well as dozens of photographs and papers about the U.S. Navy and Wei’s assignments on the Essex. Many of the manuals contained conspicuous export-control warnings on their cover pages.”

The Justice Department explained that during the trial, the government presented evidence including phone conversations, electronic messages, and audio messages that Wei exchanged with his Chinese handler. These messages showed how they communicated, what they spoke about, the need for secrecy, the efforts they made to cover their tracks, the tasks issued by his case handler, and how Wei was paid for his work via an online payment method.

As their relationship developed, Wei called his handler “Big Brother Andy” and obliged requests to keep their relationship secret by using multiple encrypted apps; deleting messages and accounts; using digital “dead drops” that disappear in 72 hours; and using a new computer and phone provided by his handler.

The government told the jury that the evidence showed Wei was aware that what he was doing was wrong. He had received recent training from the Navy regarding how to detect recruitment efforts from foreign governments; he attempted to conceal his activity; and he searched the internet about another case in which a U.S. Navy sailor was convicted of espionage, even reading a Department of Justice press release about that case.

“Much of the evidence showed the evolution of Wei’s relationship with his handler - Wei’s increasing willingness to collect more and more sensitive information, and the intelligence officer’s employment of intelligence tradecraft to keep developing Wei as a spy and to conceal their relationship and activities from U.S. authorities,” the Justice Department stated. “For example, the jury saw photographs of the hand-written receipts that Wei created and sent to his handler to be paid and conversations that Wei and his handler had regarding the handler’s increasingly generous offers to Wei, such as a trip for Wei and his mother to travel to China. Moreover, the jury was presented with documents and records obtained from electronic accounts demonstrating the intelligence officer’s identity as a PRC intelligence officer, including photographs and identification documents.”

During his post-arrest interview Wei admitted that he gave the intelligence officer thousands of pages of technical and operating manuals and export-controlled data about U.S. Navy surface warfare ships, and that the intelligence officer paid him thousands of dollars for these materials. He also admitted that he knew that his actions were wrong and that he had tried to hide his activities. When the interviewing agents asked Wei how he would describe what he had been doing with the intelligence officer, Wei responded, “espionage.”

Wei, during his post-arrest interview with FBI: “I’m screwed.”

FBI: “What makes you say that?”

Wei: “That I’m sharing the unclassified document to—I mean document with, uhm, him . . . I’m not supposed to do that.”

The crime of espionage under U.S. Code Section 794 has never been charged in the Southern District of California. The statute is reserved for the most serious circumstances involving the passage of national defense information intended to harm the United States or for the benefit of a foreign power.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Parmley from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California and Adam Barry, former Trial Attorney from the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section who is currently Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Columbia.

John A. Eisenberg, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security, stated after the sentence, “Wei swore loyalty to the United States when he joined the Navy and reaffirmed that oath when he became a citizen. He then accepted the solemn responsibility of protecting this Nation’s secrets when the United States entrusted him with sensitive Navy information. 

“He made a mockery of these commitments when he chose to endanger our Nation and our servicemembers by selling U.S. military secrets to a Chinese intelligence officer for personal profit. Today’s sentence reflects our commitment to ensuring those who sell our Nation’s secrets pay a very high price for their betrayal.”

NCIS Director Omar Lopez added, “By sharing thousands of documents, operating manuals, and export-controlled and sensitive information with a Chinese intelligence officer, Petty Officer Wei knowingly betrayed his fellow service members and the American people.

“Today’s outcome demonstrates the shared commitment of NCIS, FBI, the Department of Justice and our Intelligence partners to aggressively pursue and hold accountable those who would put the lethality and readiness of our Naval fleet, as well as our national security, at risk. NCIS remains steadfast in its mission to protect U.S. Navy and Marine Corps forces and warfighting capabilities by neutralizing counterintelligence threats ashore, afloat and in cyberspace.”

Mark Dargis, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s San Diego Field Office, stated “Today’s sentence marks the conclusion of a first-of-its-kind espionage investigation in the district and reflects the seriousness of Wei’s egregious actions against his own country. 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. We remain steadfast in protecting the American people and will continue to work with all our law enforcement partners to successfully carry out this mission.”

Paul Davis, a Navy veteran and retired Defense Department civilian employee, is a longtime contributor to the Journal. He also writes the online Threatcon column for IACSP.