A Monterey Park man has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison after he admitted to selling sensitive information to China while serving as a sailor in the U.S. Navy.
Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, pleaded guilty in October to one count each of conspiring with an intelligence officer and receiving a bribe, about two months after he was initially arrested while serving at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme.
On Monday, he was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison, according to Courthouse News Service.
“Between August 2021 and at least May 2023, Zhao admitted receiving at least $14,866 in at least 14 separate bribe payments from the intelligence officer,” the United States Department of Justice said in an October news release. “In exchange for the illicit payments, Zhao surreptitiously collected and transmitted to the intelligence officer sensitive, non-public information regarding U.S. Navy operational security, military trainings and exercises, and critical infrastructure. Zhao admitted he entered restricted military and naval installations to collect and record this information.”
Zhao is “ready to take responsibility for what he has done,” his attorney, Tarek Shawky, said at the sentencing hearing, according to CNS.
“He trusted somebody he shouldn’t have trusted and made some poor decisions,” Shawky added.