Patrick Wei, a former U.S. Navy sailor who sold manuals for ships and operating systems to an operative working for China, was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison, prosecutors said.

A former U.S. Navy sailor convicted of selling technical and operating manuals for ships and operating systems to an intelligence officer working for China was sentenced Monday to more than 16 years in prison, prosecutors said.

A federal judge in San Diego sentenced Jinchao Wei, also known as Patrick Wei, 25, to 200 months. A federal jury convicted Wei in August of six crimes, including espionage. He was paid more than $12,000 for the information he sold, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.

Wei, an engineer for the amphibious assault ship USS Essex, 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 he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of receiving a bribe in violation of his official duties.

  • moonshadow@slrpnk.net
    3·
    4 days ago

    If you’re calling the heroic Mr. Snowden an idiot you can meet me behind the waffle house at 4pm for your ass kicking

      • moonshadow@slrpnk.net
        1·
        3 days ago

        He gave up the entire life he’d built and is still experiencing some pretty severe consequences for revealing some pretty dark government secrets. I misquoted moron as idiot but don’t think either term belongs anywhere near that man or his actions. Noble is the best fit I’ve got, and I like to imagine that in a position to make that kind of impact I too would be willing to make those kinds of sacrifices

        • village604English
          1·
          3 days ago

          I wasn’t talking about Snowden; I just used him as an example of how the US government can ruin your life even if you aren’t profiting from it, so no amount of profit is worth the risk.

          • moonshadow@slrpnk.net
            2·
            3 days ago

            I think we’ve just got a significant gap in perspective man. There’s plenty of things in my life worth that risk and more, I hope you find some too. Good luck out there.

            “If you fear dying, you’re already dead”

              • moonshadow@slrpnk.net
                1·
                3 days ago

                Nah, fuck money. Worth it to expose grave enough injustice or keep a family out of the camps for sure though. You see about the ICE employee roster getting leaked yesterday?

                • village604English
                  1·
                  3 days ago

                  I think you’re inferring a message from my comment that doesn’t exist. I never said that being a whistleblower is a bad thing.

                  I said that selling government secrets for profit is a profoundly stupid thing to do.