A federal judge in San Diego sentenced a former U.S. Navy sailor to more than 16 years in prison Monday for selling technical manuals and operational intelligence about military ships to a Chinese intelligence officer, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Jinchao Wei, 25, who served as an engineer aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Essex, received a 200-month sentence. A federal jury convicted Wei in August of six crimes, including espionage. Prosecutors said Wei was paid more than $12,000 for the information he sold.

The case is one of several criminal prosecutions U.S. officials have brought in recent years against individuals accused of providing sensitive military and commercial information to Chinese intelligence operatives, reflecting longstanding government concern about Beijing’s espionage activities targeting American military personnel.

Recruitment and what was sold

Wei was recruited via social media in 2022 by a person who portrayed himself as a naval enthusiast working for the state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, prosecutors said. That person was, according to prosecutors, a Chinese intelligence officer.

Evidence presented at trial showed Wei told a friend that the contact was “extremely suspicious” and that it was “quite obviously” espionage. Wei disregarded the friend’s advice to delete the contact and instead moved his conversations with the intelligence officer to a different encrypted messaging application he believed was more secure, prosecutors said.

Over the course of 18 months, Wei sent the officer photos and videos of the Essex, advised him of the locations of various Navy ships, and told him about the Essex’s defensive weapons, prosecutors said.

Wei sold 60 technical and operating manuals, including those for weapons control, aircraft systems, and deck elevators, prosecutors said. The manuals contained export control warnings and detailed the operations of multiple systems aboard the Essex and similar ships.

Wei held the rank of petty officer second class. The Navy’s website says the Essex is equipped to transport and support a Marine Corps landing force of over 2,000 troops during air and amphibious assault operations.

Wei was one of two California-based sailors charged on Aug. 3, 2023, with providing sensitive military information to China. The other, Wenheng Zhao, was sentenced to more than two years in 2024 after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of receiving a bribe in violation of his official duties.

Wei’s statement at sentencing

In a letter to the judge before sentencing, Wei apologized and said he should not have shared anything with the person he had considered a friend. Wei said “introversion and loneliness” clouded his judgment.