Former US Navy sailor learns sentence for spying for China

A former U.S. Navy sailor who was convicted last year of spying for China was sentenced this week to 200 months in prison. 

Jinchao Wei, 25, who was arrested in August 2023, was a machinist’s mate on the amphibious assault ship USS Essex at Naval Base San Diego. Prosecutors said Wei used his position to collect sensitive information and offered it to a Chinese intelligence officer who recruited him in February 2022. In exchange for his efforts, Wei was paid $12,000 over a year and a half.