Washington DC, August 14:
An intelligence analyst and US Army soldier has admitted guilt on all counts of providing China with sensitive national defense information, according to the US Department of Justice. The defendant sold classified military information to a foreign citizen using his access to restricted government systems, according to Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's citizen Security Division, who made the statement on August 12.
U.S. soldier Korbein Schultz is facing charges of bribery of a public official, conspiracy to export defense items without a license, and exporting technical data linked to defense articles without a license.
The conspiracy involved Schultz, who had a top secret security clearance, and a Hong Kong resident "to collect national defence information, including classified information and export-controlled technical data related to U.S. military weapons systems, and to transmit that information" to the Chinese government in return for payment.
For $42,000, he agreed to send over a trove of secret US military secrets to a man in Hong Kong who he suspected had ties to China's government. U.S. Army Counterintelligence Command and the Federal Bureau of Investigations are looking into the matter.
January 23, 2025 is the date set for the sentencing hearing. His arrest in March this year brought him face two charges: 10 years for conspiracy to obtain and transmit national defense information and 20 years for exporting technical data relating to defense items to China without a license. The maximum penalty for the former is 10 years in jail, while the latter has a maximum sentence of 20 years.
Thirty years for bribery of a public official and twenty years for conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) are also on his record.
Prior to his arrest, Schultz had conversations about numerous classified US military documents, including those pertaining to export-controlled technical data as well as a wide range of US military weapon systems and strategies.
A document outlining the US Army's takeaways from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine that could be relevant to any future defense of Taiwan was one of the documents that Schultz gathered and sent.
Aside from that, there were publications concerning the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, orders detailing the deployment of the defendant's unit to Eastern Europe to support NATO operations, records concerning military exercises, US forces in the Philippines and the Republic of Korea, records concerning US military satellites, and records concerning Chinese military tactics and readiness.
Authorities such as China are actively seeking out US military personnel and sensitive national security data, according to FBI National Security Branch Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells, who was quoted in the US Department of Justice statement, adding, "we will do everything in our power to ensure that information is safeguarded from hostile foreign governments."
Before deciding on a punishment, a judge in a US federal district court will look at the US Sentencing Guidelines along with additional considerations specified by statute. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Adam Barry and Christopher Cook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, as well as Assistant US Attorney Josh Kurtzman from the Middle District of Tennessee.
