Former U.S. Navy Service Member Wei Jinchao Sentenced to More Than 16 Years in Prison for Acting as a Chinese Communist Party Spy

The U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS Essex leaving the dry dock at BAE Systems in San Diego, California (September 8, 2023).

[People News] The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Monday (January 12) that former U.S. Navy enlisted service member Wei Jinchao (phonetic transliteration; Jinchao Wei), who was convicted of acting as a spy for the Chinese Communist Party, was sentenced to 200 months in prison.

According to a report by Voice of America, the 25-year-old Wei Jinchao, also known as Patrick Wei, was born in China and later became a naturalized U.S. citizen. He previously served as a machinist’s mate aboard the U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS Essex. He was arrested in August 2023 when he reported aboard the ship, after being accused of engaging in espionage activities, and was convicted in August 2025.

The Department of Justice stated that on February 14, 2022, Wei Jinchao was recruited through social media by a Chinese Communist Party intelligence officer who initially posed as a military enthusiast. Evidence presented during the trial showed that between March 2022 and his arrest in August 2023, Wei Jinchao, at the direction of this intelligence officer, sent photos and videos of the USS Essex, reported the locations of certain U.S. Navy vessels, and described the ship’s defensive weapons. He also described problems with the Essex and other vessels stationed at locations such as Naval Base San Diego in California. In addition, he sent the intelligence officer thousands of pages of technical and operational information related to the USS Essex and other U.S. Navy surface ships.

Over an 18-month period, the Chinese Communist Party intelligence officer paid Wei Jinchao more than $12,000.

Prosecutors submitted recordings of phone conversations, electronic messages, and voice messages between Wei Jinchao and the Chinese intelligence officer. These communications showed that Wei Jinchao knew his actions were wrong and that they attempted to conceal their activities.

In August 2025, after a five-day trial and one day of deliberations, a federal jury in California found Wei Jinchao guilty on six counts, including conspiracy to commit espionage, espionage, and illegal export and conspiracy to illegally export technical data related to defense articles. The jury found him not guilty on the charge of fraudulently obtaining U.S. citizenship through naturalization.

“Wei swore allegiance to the United States when he joined the Navy and reaffirmed that oath when he became a U.S. citizen,” said John A. Eisenberg, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, in a statement. “Later, when the United States entrusted him with sensitive naval information, he accepted the solemn duty to protect our nation’s secrets. Instead, for personal gain, he sold U.S. military secrets to a Chinese Communist Party intelligence officer, mocking those commitments and endangering our nation and our service members. Today’s sentence demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that those who betray our nation’s secrets pay a heavy price for their betrayal.”

At the same time that Wei Jinchao was arrested in August 2023 at Naval Base San Diego, another U.S. Navy enlisted service member born in China, Zhao Wenheng (phonetic transliteration; Wenheng Zhao), who was stationed at a naval base in Ventura County north of Los Angeles, California, was also arrested on charges of acting as a spy for the Chinese Communist Party. Zhao Wenheng pleaded guilty in October of that year and was sentenced to 27 months in prison in January 2024. △