A US Army analyst has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to sell military secrets to China, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has said. Sgt Korbin Schultz was arrested in March after an investigation by the FBI and US Army counterintelligence alleged that he was paid $42,000 (£33,000) in exchange for dozens of sensitive security records.
The criminal conspiracy began in June 2022 and continued up until his arrest, officials said.
He is scheduled for sentencing in January.
Sgt Schultz, who held a security clearance to access top secret information, conspired to collect data with someone whom he believed to be living in Hong Kong, according to court documents.
The purported Hong Kong resident asked Sgt Schultz to collect sensitive data related to missile defence and mobile artillery systems, according to court records.
US Army intelligence analyst
Sgt Schultz also collected data on US fighter aircraft, military tactics, and the US military’s defence strategy for Taiwan, based on what it learned from Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“By conspiring to transmit national defence information to a person living outside the United States, this defendant callously put our national security at risk to cash in on the trust our military placed in him,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the DOJ’s National Security Division said.
Sgt Schultz on Tuesday pleaded guilty to all charges against him, including conspiracy to obtain and disclose national defence information and bribery of a public official. The indictment against Sgt Schultz earlier detailed messages he sent to the supposed Hong Kong resident, who was referred to in court documents as Conspirator A.
“Governments like China are aggressively targeting our military personnel and national security information and we will do everything in our power to ensure that information is safeguarded from hostile foreign governments,” FBI Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells said in a statement.
Before he was arrested, he sent dozens of sensitive and restricted – but unclassified – military documents, the Department of Justice said. A document discussing the lessons learned by the Army from the Russia-Ukraine war that it would apply in a defense of Taiwan, documents relating to Chinese military tactics, and a document relating to U.S. military satellites were among the items collected and sent by Schultz.
Schultz was paid approximately $42,000 for the information, according to the department. “By conspiring to transmit national defense information to a person living outside the United States, this defendant callously put our national security at risk to cash in on the trust our military placed in him,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said.
The case also brings attention to the broader issue of foreign interference and its implications for national security. With tensions between the U.S. and China on the rise, this incident serves as a stark reminder of the high stakes involved in safeguarding sensitive information.
Legal experts predict that the analyst will face a significant prison sentence as part of the plea agreement. The court is expected to sentence the individual later this year, once all aspects of the case have been thoroughly examined.
For now, the U.S. military and intelligence agencies are focusing on strengthening their defenses and ensuring that similar breaches do not occur in the future. This case serves as a critical lesson in the importance of integrity and vigilance in protecting national security.
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