San Diego, California – A federal jury in San Diego on Wednesday convicted Jinchao “Patrick” Wei, a 25-year-old Navy sailor once stationed aboard the USS Essex, of espionage and related crimes for selling U.S. military secrets to a Chinese intelligence officer.
The verdict came after a five-day trial and just one day of deliberations. Wei was found guilty on six counts, including conspiracy to commit espionage, espionage, and unlawfully exporting technical defense data in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. He was acquitted on a single count of naturalization fraud. Sentencing is scheduled for December 1, when he faces the possibility of decades in federal prison.
Federal prosecutors painted a stark picture of betrayal. In their telling, Wei abused his position as a machinist’s mate aboard the Essex, an amphibious assault ship homeported at Naval Base San Diego, to funnel highly sensitive information to a handler working for China’s government. That information included technical manuals, photographs, and operational details about the Essex and other surface warfare ships—data prosecutors argued could jeopardize sailors’ lives and national security…