Former US Army Analyst Gets 7 Years in Prison for Sending Sensitive Data to China
A former U.S. Army intelligence analyst was sentenced to seven years in prison for conspiring to "obtain and disclose national defense information," illegally exporting data related to defense articles to China, and conspiring to illegally export defense articles and bribery, DOJ announced. The analyst, Korbein Schultz, pleaded guilty last year to sending "sensitive, non-public U.S. military information, to an individual he believed was affiliated with the Chinese government," DOJ said.
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Scultz was charged in March 2024 for working with an unnamed "conspirator" to disclose U.S. military information, including data on U.S. weapons systems relating to U.S. plans in the event Taiwan was invaded (see 2408140014). From 2022 to 2024, Schultz sent documents related to "U.S. military capabilities," including his unit's operation order before it was deployed to Eastern Europe, lessons learned from the "Ukraine/Russia conflict applicable to Taiwan's defense" and technical manuals for various aircraft and missile systems, in exchange for $42,000.
DOJ said Schultz also disclosed information on Chinese military tactics, details on U.S. military exercises in South Korea and the Philippines, documents on U.S. military satellites and missile defense systems and tactics for "countering unmanned aerial systems in large-scale combat operations."
The "conspirator" contacted Schultz initially through a "freelance web-based work platform shortly after the defendant received his Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information" clearance, DOJ said. The conspirator represented that they worked at a geopolitical consulting firm and solicited increasingly detailed information from Schultz.