A former intelligence officer with the U.S. Army was sentenced on Wednesday to seven years in prison for selling critical military documents to an individual believed to be tied to the Chinese government.
Korbein Schultz, 25, pled guilty last year to conspiring to collect and transmit national defense information, unlawfully exporting controlled information to China, and accepting bribes in exchange for sensitive government information. The sale of the documents, which included information on American military technology, took place over a three-year period from May 2022 to March 2024, according to the Justice Department.
“This defendant swore an oath to defend the United States — instead, he betrayed it for a payout and put America’s military and service members at risk,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “The Justice Department remains vigilant against China’s efforts to target our military and will ensure that those who leak military secrets spend years behind bars.”
He could have faced 65 years in prison if given the maximum on all counts.
Schultz was paid $42,000 for sending the information to an unidentified foreign national living in Hong Kong believed to be connected to the Chinese government.
The information that he provided included his unit’s operational order before it was deployed to Eastern Europe, information applying lessons from the Russia-Ukraine war to Taiwan, technical manuals for the Army’s HH-60 helicopter and F-22A fighter aircraft, manuals on Intercontinental Ballistic Missile systems, American intelligence on the Chinese military and the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, details on American military exercises in South Korea and the Philippines, and documents on American military satellites and missile defense systems.
Schultz was first contacted to sell the secrets over a freelance web-based work platform by an individual pretending to work for a geopolitical consulting firm, according to the Justice Department. The department added that Schultz attempted to recruit a friend who worked for the Department of Defense’s Indo-Pacific Command to take part in the scheme as well.
The FBI’s Nashville office led the investigation, with assistance from the Department of Defense and the Army Counterintelligence Command.
“This sentencing is a stark warning to those who betray our country: you will pay a steep price for it,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The People’s Republic of China is relentless in its efforts to steal our national defense information, and service members are a prime target. The FBI and our partners will continue to root out espionage and hold those accountable who abandon their obligation to safeguard defense information from hostile foreign governments.”
