Former U.S. Navy Sailor Sentenced To 16 Years In Prison For Selling Ship Info To China For Just $12,000

How much money would it take for you to hand over military secrets to a foreign country? Apparently, $12,000 was enough for one former U.S. Navy sailor. A federal court sentenced Jinchao Wei on Monday to 200 months in prison on conspiracy and espionage charges for selling defense information to a Chinese intelligence officer. A federal jury convicted Wei in August 2025.

Like any modern story of deception, the Chinese intelligence officer first approached Wei on social media in February 2022. However, this spy wasn't an attractive woman trying to lure him into subscribing to an OnlyFans account. According to the Department of Justice, the spy posed as an employee of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, who just happened to be a naval enthusiast. Wei was a machinist's mate on the USS Essex with access to sensitive information on the amphibious assault ship's systems. In 2020, the U.S. government sanctioned CSIC for having ties to the People's Liberation Army, China's military.

Wei was suspicious and told a friend about the interaction. The initial offer was for $500 to "walk the pier" and report which ships were docked in San Diego on a daily basis. Wei said to his friend, "This is quite obviously f**king espionage." Instead of following his friend's advice to delete the contact, Wei continued messaging the spy and switched to an encrypted messaging app.

Wei decided to start spying for the intelligence agent and shared a massive amount of sensitive material. He sent his handler, whom he nicknamed "Big Brother Andy," photos and videos of the Essex. He sold Andy at least 30 technical and operating manuals on US. Navy systems. The documents detailed the ship's systems and how the crew should respond to certain situations, including damage and casualty controls. Wei told his handler about issues with the Essex and its operations. He also sold 60 more manuals about Navy ships. These transactions would be done through a computer and phone provided by Andy.

The FBI arrested Wei at Naval Base San Diego in August 2018, 18 months after he started spying. He immediately admitted to wrongdoing in his post-arrest interview, even saying, "I'm screwed." Despite being the home to the Pacific Fleet, it was the first time that espionage charges were ever filed in the Southern District of California. Along with one sailor's lack of judgment, this incident is also the result of rising tensions between the U.S. Navy and the People's Liberation Army Navy. A different incident last year involved the PLA Navy having a live-fire exercise off the coast of Australia as the U.S. Navy's top admiral in the Pacific visited the country.