Chinese-born U.S. sailor convicted of espionage in San Diego sentenced to more than 16 years

A San Diego federal judge on Monday sentenced a Chinese-born U.S. Navy sailor to 16 years and eight months in federal prison for selling military documents to a Chinese spy, telling the sailor that it was a “sad case” but that he was suffering the consequences of his own “foolish behavior.”

A jury convicted Jinchao “Patrick” Wei in August on six counts of conspiracy, espionage and charges related to unlawfully sending defense information to a foreign government. The jury acquitted Wei, a naturalized U.S. citizen, of a single count of naturalization fraud, though both the judge and a prosecutor said Monday that Wei will likely face civil denaturalization proceedings.

Trial evidence showed a Chinese intelligence officer recruited Wei on social media and paid him at least $12,000 in exchange for dozens of technical manuals that contained information about weapons, defense and propulsion systems for the USS Essex, the San Diego-based ship to which he was assigned, and other similar Navy ships.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego said Wei’s prosecution was the first time San Diego-area prosecutors had charged a defendant with selling defense information to aid a foreign government, saying it’s a statute reserved “for the most serious circumstances.”

While both prosecutors and defense attorneys have agreed that Wei, 25, was not politically nor ideologically motivated, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Parmley repeatedly told U.S. District Judge Marilyn Huff on Monday that Wei was a traitor.

“He swore an oath to defend this country, he swore an oath to protect this country, he swore an oath to defend and protect the Constitution, he swore an oath to die and protect this country, if he had to,” Parmley said outside court after Monday’s hearing. “He was on a working Naval warship where they give you a lot of responsibility, even as a junior sailor. So he’s a traitor.”

Prosecutors recommended a sentence of more than 20 years, arguing Wei was greedy and sold out his country for “cold, hard cash.” Wei’s attorneys recommended a sentence of less than three years, arguing their client was an emotionally stunted loner who’d been manipulated by a Chinese spy, but who had only turned over basic information about an outdated ship rather than highly classified military secrets.

Wei told the judge that he accepted full responsibility for his actions, that there was no excusing his wrongdoing and that he was ashamed of any harm he may have brought to his shipmates.

“I hate myself for all this,” he said.

Huff told Wei that he deserved some credit for accepting responsibility after being convicted, and she acknowledged that he had a difficult upbringing in China. But she said a lengthy sentence was needed to deter other members of the military from committing similar acts.

“I think you violated your oath from the get-go,” the judge told Wei. “This is a very sad case, but we require members of the military to keep their oaths.”

Wei moved with his mother from China to Wisconsin in 2016 and joined the Navy in July 2021 shortly after graduating high school, according to trial evidence, court records and his Navy service record.

Around the same time he reported to the San Diego-based Essex in March 2022, he also applied for U.S. citizenship and struck up a friendship on a Chinese social media site with an individual who prosecutors said was a Chinese intelligence officer.

The intelligence officer initially posed as a naval enthusiast who worked for the state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, though Wei quickly recognized he was likely a spy.

“This is quite obviously (expletive) espionage,” Wei told another Navy sailor almost immediately after his new social media acquaintance began asking for photos, videos and other documents concerning U.S. Navy ships and their systems.

Federal agents arrested Wei in August 2023 when he showed up for work one morning at Naval Base San Diego. At the time, Wei was a petty officer who held a security clearance and worked as a machinist’s mate aboard the Essex. He’d also been under surveillance for more than six months by federal agents who had bugged his apartment and tapped his phone.

As a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, the Essex resembles a small aircraft carrier that can carry more than 1,000 sailors and 1,500 Marines, allowing the U.S. to rapidly deploy troops across the world. Parmley told the jury during opening statements last year that China is “desperately trying” to keep up with U.S. technology while building its own similar class of amphibious assault ships.

Prosecutors told jurors at trial that Wei was motivated by greed and selfishness rather than political ideology. “(Wei) sold these secrets willingly, repeatedly, and for cold, hard cash,” Parmley wrote in a sentencing memorandum.

Defense attorneys Sean Jones and Michael Bertola wrote in sentencing documents that Wei experienced “severe emotional neglect” from a very young age. His father abandoned him and his mother worked in Nigeria, leaving Wei to be raised early in his life by a grandmother and uncle who both suffered mental health struggles.

The defense attorneys argued that Wei never developed a meaningful relationship with anyone in his life except for his mother. His “social isolation and feelings of anxiety and depression … left him particularly vulnerable” to the overtures of his Chinese spy handler, according to his attorneys.

“(The intelligence officer) positioned himself as a confidant and mentor to Mr. Wei,” Jones and Bertola wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “Mr. Wei desperately craved human connection and was eager to please one of the only individuals to ever show him interest.”

Huff acknowledged Wei’s difficult upbringing, but also pointed to trial testimony from his superiors that he was smart and advancing quickly through the Navy’s enlisted ranks. She said his youth was not a factor, since many members of the military are also young and do not commit espionage.

Parmley said Wei, who has remained in custody since his 2023 arrest, is still officially in the Navy, but discharge proceedings are ongoing.