SAN DIEGO—On January 12, former U.S. Navy Sailor Jinchao Wei, 25, also known as Patrick Wei, was sentenced to 200 months or 16 years in prison for selling national defense information for $12,000 to an intelligence officer working for the People’s Republic of China.
According to the US Department of Justice, Wei was arrested in August 2023 on charges of espionage. He arrived for duty at the homeport of the Pacific Fleet aboard the amphibious assault ship, the U.S.S. Essex, at Naval Base San Diego.
Wei’s trial lasted for five days. The jury deliberated for one day before he was found guilty by a federal jury in August 2025, and convicted of six crimes, including conspiracy to commit espionage, espionage, and the unlawful export and conspiracy to export technical data related to defense articles, which is a violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.
He was found not guilty on one count of naturalization fraud.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued the following statement.
“Members of the United States military swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. 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.”
John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, spoke on the loyalty expected from a trusted member of the U.S. Navy.
Wei swore loyalty to the United States when he joined the Navy and reaffirmed that oath when he became a U.S. citizen. He then accepted the solemn responsibility of protecting the 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.”
The DOJ had pages of evidence and documentation showing Wei’s communication with Wei’s contact in the People’s Republic of China since February 2022.
In January 2023, in a separate espionage case, another U.S. Navy sailor, Wenheng Zhau, was sentenced to 27 months in prison for taking bribes to transmit sensitive military data to Chinese intelligence.
The DOJ reported that these individuals were not Navy SEALs taking part in a special operations unit. They were regular Navy sailors.
