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US Navy sailor sentenced to 27 months for transmitting sensitive military info to China
A U.S. Navy sailor has been sentenced to 27 months in prison after transmitting sensitive military information to a Chinese intelligence officer in exchange for around $15,000 in bribe payments, the Justice Department says.
The punishment against Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, aka Thomas Zhao, a 26-year-old from Monterey Park, California, was issued Monday following his October 2023 guilty plea to one count of conspiring with the intelligence officer and one count of receiving a bribe, according to the Justice Department.
“Mr. Zhao betrayed his solemn oath to defend his country and endangered those who serve in the U.S. military,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division said in a statement. “The Justice Department is committed to combatting the Chinese government’s efforts to undermine our nation’s security and holding accountable those who violate our laws as part of those efforts.”
The agency said between August 2021 and at least May 2023, Zhao, who worked and held a U.S. security clearance at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, California, “received at least $14,866 in at least 14 separate bribe payments from the intelligence officer.”
US NAVY SAILOR ENCOURAGED BY MOTHER TO SELL SECRETS TO CHINA FOR POSSIBLE JOB OPPORTUNITIES, ATTORNEY SAYS
Construction Electrician 3rd Class Wenheng Zhao, assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3, is seen in November 2019 during a training exercise at Fort Hunter Liggett, California. Court documents obtained by Fox News Digital last year said Zhao “served as a construction electrician” in Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 3.
“In exchange for the illicit payments, Zhao secretly collected and transmitted to the intelligence officer sensitive, non-public information regarding U.S. Navy operational security, military trainings and exercises, and critical infrastructure,” the Justice Department said. “Zhao entered restricted military and naval installations to collect and record this information.
“Zhao transmitted plans for a large-scale maritime training exercise in the Pacific theatre, operational orders and electrical diagrams and blueprints for a Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar system located in Okinawa, Japan,” it added.
2 SAILORS HIT WITH CHARGES TIED TO NATIONAL SECURITY, CHINA
Zhao tried to conceal his relationship with the Chinese intelligence officer, the Justice Department says. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)
Federal prosecutors alleged that Zhao used encrypted communication methods to transmit the information and then destroyed evidence and tried to hide his relationship with the Chinese officer.
In addition to the sentencing, Zhao also has been ordered to pay a $5,500 fine.
Chinese President Xi Jinping reviews the honour guard during a welcome ceremony at The Great Hall of the People on Nov. 22, 2023, in Beijing, China. Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division says “The Justice Department is committed to combatting the Chinese government’s efforts to undermine our nation’s security and holding accountable those who violate our laws as part of those efforts.” (Florence Lo – Pool/Getty Images)
The investigation into his behavior was carried out by the FBI Los Angeles Field Office’s Counterintelligence and Cyber Division and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service with assistance from the IRS, the Justice Department says.
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POCATELLO, Idaho — Idaho agriculture officials are taking aggressive action after five Japanese beetles, a highly destructive invasive pest, were detected in Acequia near Rupert, according to information provided by the Idaho Farm Bureau Foundation.
The Idaho Farm Bureau Federation reports the Japanese beetle, a non-native insect that feeds on more than 300 species of agricultural and ornamental plants, poses a significant threat to Idaho agriculture. In response to the discovery, the Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) has deployed about 800 traps in the Rupert area to determine the extent of the infestation.
“We take an aggressive approach to make sure we don’t see those numbers boom before we can actually handle the situation,” said Vene Stewart, an ISDA pest survey and detection specialist helping lead eradication efforts.
Stewart said Japanese beetles are not selective feeders.
“They eat about 300 different types of flowering plants. Pretty much anything that flowers, they would love to demolish,” Stewart said.
The ISDA is also conducting eradication efforts in Caldwell and Pocatello. Last year, the department detected 160 Japanese beetles in Caldwell and 12 in Pocatello. Residents in those areas, as well as Acequia, may notice the yellow traps used to monitor the pest’s presence.
“We will be treating all three of those areas this year,” Stewart said.
Caldwell, like Acequia, is located in a major agricultural region. About 700 traps have been placed throughout the Caldwell area.
“The Caldwell infestation isn’t moving at all,” Stewart said. “In fact, where we are finding the beetles is getting to be a smaller and smaller area. You like to see that.”
The department has also placed approximately 550 traps in the Pocatello area.
Stewart said eradication efforts require ongoing monitoring and treatment.
“It’s unfortunately not something that we can just treat one time and assume everything’s going to be (OK) the following year,” she said. “It’s something we’re going to have to keep up on.”
According to a recent University of Idaho study, agriculture accounts for one in every nine jobs in Idaho, 17% of total sales and 12% of the state’s gross domestic product.
ISDA officials have worked to eliminate Japanese beetles wherever they appear in Idaho. About 15 years ago, large numbers of the beetles were detected in the Boise area. Officials say the state’s eradication campaign there resulted in no detections in Boise for several years. According to ISDA officials, the effort became the largest documented Japanese beetle eradication in U.S. history.
“We definitely want to protect our agriculture, especially in Caldwell where it is such an agriculture-(rich) area,” Stewart said. “It’s definitely important to the residents and the farmers out there to make sure that we keep our eye on it and make some progress.”
Stewart said the department’s eradication efforts have received support from farmers, local residents and city officials.
Adult Japanese beetles are about a half-inch long with metallic green bodies and copper-colored wing covers. The insects can skeletonize leaves and leave holes in plants while feeding.
Officials warn that if the beetle were to establish a permanent presence in Idaho, it could lead to reduced crop production, increased pesticide use and potential market restrictions through quarantine measures.
Native to Japan, the beetle was first detected in the United States in 1916 and is now found throughout most states east of the Mississippi River.
Although Idaho has preventative measures in place to reduce the risk of introduction from infested states, ISDA officials believe the beetles still arrive by hitchhiking with people moving from affected areas.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Conservation groups are pushing back against a new state mapping tool that identifies federal lands potentially available for development in Nevada.
The governor’s office, in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management Nevada, unveiled the interactive map this week to make it easier to find federal land that may be available for development throughout the state and in the Las Vegas Valley.
“It is shocking to look at the map and see how many lands could potentially be sold off,” said Olivia Tanager, executive director of the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter.
Tanager said she was surprised at how many federal lands were identified for disposal when she first looked at the map.
“Places like Red Rock and Sloan Canyon in Southern Nevada are what draw people to live in Southern Nevada. We cannot continue to develop right up onto the boundaries or perhaps even in these precious places,” Tanager said.
The conservation group says the mapping tool is the latest effort to treat Nevada’s public lands as a real estate inventory rather than a shared public resource.
“We know that a lot of these areas are environmentally sensitive. We know that there are endangered species on these lands,” Tanager said.
MORE ON FOX5: Nevada unveils interactive tool mapping federal lands available for possible development, other uses
Housing concerns
Lawmakers have proposed using federal lands to create more affordable housing. Several areas at the edges of the Vegas Valley have been identified for potential development on the mapping tool. Tanager said she does not see that as a viable solution.
“The areas on the outskirts or far outside of existing urban areas are wholly inappropriate for affordable housing. Housing that is located that far away from services will never be truly affordable,” Tanager said. “As folks have to live further and further away from resources like schools and grocery stores, transportation costs go up substantially.”
The conservation group says the valley should fill in open lots and build upward within the existing urban core instead of building outward.
“We know that sprawl and developing on the outskirts of the valley worsens air quality as well from increased transportation,” Tanager said. “We know that sprawl is incredibly water-intensive. The further out you build, the harder it is to recapture that water.”
The Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter says treating federal lands as disposable assets could set a dangerous precedent that accelerates privatization efforts and undermines the principle that public lands should remain in public hands for future generations.
Approximately 85% of Nevada’s total land area is owned by the federal government.
The state says the tool is designed to bolster information sharing about federal lands. The mapping tool is available here.
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