Former US Navy sailor sentenced in San Diego for Chinese espionage

A federal judge in San Diego on Monday sentenced former U.S. Navy sailor Jinchao Wei to 200 months in federal prison for his role in an espionage case involving China. The 25-year-old, who’s also known as Patrick Wei, was convicted by a federal jury in August 2025 of conspiracy to commit espionage, espionage and multiple export control violations linked to the unlawful transfer of defense-related technical data, though he was acquitted on one count of naturalization fraud.

Wei, was born in China and became a US citizen in May 2022, was first contacted in February 2022 through social media by a man who claimed to work for the state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, court documents revealed. The individual was reportedly a Chinese intelligence officer who initially framed the outreach around shared maritime interests before steering conversations toward US naval operations, ship maintenance cycles and port activity.

Wei purportedly recognized the risk early, telling a fellow sailor that he believed the contact was linked to Chinese intelligence and describing the situation as “quite obviously” espionage. Despite that assessment and recent Navy training on identifying foreign recruitment efforts, he continued communicating and moved the exchanges to encrypted messaging platforms.

The defendant was a machinist’s mate assigned to the USS Essex at Naval Base San Diego and held a US security clearance at the time. Prosecutors said he provided photos and videos of the ship, disclosed the locations of multiple US Navy vessels and transferred thousands of pages of technical and operational documents, including about 60 manuals marked with export control warnings detailing systems such as propulsion, desalination, weapons control, aircraft and deck elevators and damage control procedures.

Federal authorities began investigating Wei’s conduct in 2023 after identifying unauthorized transfers of Navy information. He was arrested in August 2023 as he arrived for work at Naval Base San Diego and later admitted to providing Navy manuals and other materials to a foreign intelligence officer in exchange for money.

Prosecutors said the case was built on digital messages, audio recordings and financial records that tied payments totaling more than $12,000 to specific information requests. Investigators also documented efforts to conceal the activity, including the use of encrypted messaging applications, deleted accounts and temporary digital drop sites designed to erase data.

“This active-duty U.S. Navy sailor betrayed his country and compromised the national security of the United States,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement following the sentencing. Prosecutors initially charged the former sailor under provisions of the Espionage Act that carry potential life sentences, along with related export control violations.