A former intelligence analyst of the US military was sentenced to 84 months in a conspiracy to collect and transmit information on national defense, including sensitive and non -public military information to an individual who, according to him, was affiliated to the Chinese government.
Korbein Schultz, 25, of Wills Point, Texas, pleaded guilty in August 2024 for a conspiracy to collect and transmit information on national defense, illegally export controlled information to China and accept bribes in exchange for sensitive and non-public information from the American government.
“This accused was sworn in to defend the United States – he betrayed it for payment and put the military and American services in danger,” said Prosecutor General Pamela Bondi. “The Ministry of Justice remains vigilant against China’s efforts to target our soldiers and will ensure that those who disclose military secrets spend years behind bars.”
“This conviction is a striking warning to those who betray our country: you will pay a high price,” said FBI director Kash Patel. “The People’s Republic of China is relentless in its efforts to steal our information on national defense, and members of the service are a main target. The FBI and our partners will continue to eliminate espionage and to hold the officials who abandon their obligation to protect the defense information from hostile foreign governments. ”
“Those who collaborate with American foreign opponents put our country, and those who defend it, at serious risk and we will do everything it takes to keep them responsible for their crimes,” said the American lawyer Robert E. McGuire, for the intermediate district of Tennessee. “We will proudly support our men and women in uniform and work with diligence to protect them from people like the defendant who would sell them for a few dollars.”
“The protection of classified information is essential for our national security, and this conviction reflects the ramifications when there is a violation of this trust,” said Brigade General Rhett R. Cox, general commanding the army counter-epionage command. “The actions of this soldier endanger army staff by imposing an individual gain above personal honor. Command of the counterintelligence of the army, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Intelligence Community, remains firm in our commitment to immediately safeguard the secrets of our country and urges all the current and former staff of the army to report any suspicious contact. ”
According to court documents, between May 2022 until his arrest in March 2024, Schultz embarked on an underway conspiracy to provide dozens of sensitive American military documents – many of which contain tactical and technical information controlled by export – directly to a foreign national residing in the People’s Republic of China. Despite clear indications that this person, who is referenced in the indictment as a conspirator A, was probably linked to the Chinese government, the defendant continued the relationship in exchange for financial compensation. In exchange for around $ 42,000, Schultz provided documents and data related to American military capacities, in particular:
- The operational order of its armed unit before its deployment in Eastern Europe in support of NATO operations;
- Lessons learned by the US army of the Ukraine / Russia conflict applicable to the defense of Taiwan;
- Technical manuals for the HH-60 helicopter, F-22A fighter planes and intercontinental ballistic missile systems;
- Information on Chinese military tactics and the rocket force of the popular liberation army;
- Details on American military exercises in the Republic of Korea and the Philippines;
- Documents concerning American military satellites and anti -missile defense systems such as the high mobility artillery rocket system (Himars) and the terminal defense of the high altitude zone (Thaad).
- Tactics to counter unmanned air systems in large -scale combat operations.
Conspirator contacted the defendant via an independent web work platform shortly after the defendant received his authorization for secret / sensitive compartmentalization information (TS / SCI). Having pretended to be a customer of a geopolitical consulting firm, conspirator has requested the defendant to produce detailed analyzes on military capacities and American planning, in particular in relation to Taiwan and the conflict of Russia-Ukraine.
As the relationship progressed, conspirator’s requests have become more and more specific and sensitive – asking for technical manuals, operational procedures and intelligence assessments. Conspirator made his interest in materials that were not accessible to the public explicit and encouraged the defendant to seek higher classification levels, emphasizing “exclusivity” and “cooked and better”. Schultz has agreed to obtain higher levels of classified information for the conspirator A in exchange for money.
The defendant, fully aware of the serious implications on national security, used his position and access to limited databases – including the IT networks of the closed American government – to download and transmit at least 92 sensitive American military documents.
The case also revealed the defendant’s attempts to recruit his friend and his colleague intelligence of the army in the conspiracy. At the time, Schultz’s friend was assigned to the Indo-Pacific Command of the US Defense Ministry (Indopacom), which is the combat command that covers China and its regional influence areas. Schultz and conspirator discussed the need to recruit another person in their program which had better access to classified equipment. They agreed that such recruitment should be made of “beautiful and slow”.
The FBI Nashville field office has investigated the case, with precious aid to the counterintelligence of the American army and the Ministry of Defense.
The deputy prosecutor of the United States Josh Kurtzman for the district of the Tennessee community and the lawyers Adam Barry and Christopher Cook of the section of counterintelligence and the control of exports of the National Division of the National Division continued the case.
