Two Chinese nationals were each sentenced Friday to 30 months in prison for working for China’s intelligence service to gather U.S. military information and help recruit service members as intelligence sources.
Liren “Ryan” Lai, 40, and Yuance Chen, 39, acted under the direction of China’s Ministry of State Security. Each also received three years of supervised release for conspiring to act and acting as agents of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. Attorney General, according to a Department of Justice (DOJ) statement.
The FBI arrested Chen in Happy Valley, Oregon, and Lai in Houston on June 27.
The DOJ said the pair carried out clandestine intelligence activities, including facilitating secret “dead drop” cash payments in exchange for information related to U.S. national security. Intelligence operatives use “dead drops” to transfer money or information without directly meeting the intended recipient. …