A U.S. Navy sailor was convicted on Aug. 20 of spying for China and for selling sensitive information about American warships to a Chinese intelligence officer who recruited him through social media.
Wei Jinchao, 25, who also goes by Patrick Wei, was born in China and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2022, according to prosecutors. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2021 as a machinist’s mate aboard the USS Essex, an amphibious assault ship homeported at Naval Base San Diego.
Wei was arrested on espionage charges in August 2023. He was charged with seven criminal counts in a superseding indictment in February 2024, in which prosecutors noted that he held a security clearance granting him access to classified materials….