25-year-old former Army intelligence analyst Korbein Schultz was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison for conspiring to hand over America’s most closely guarded military secrets to a hostile foreign power: Communist China.
The disgraced soldier from Wills Point, Texas, pleaded guilty in August 2024 to transmitting sensitive defense intelligence, unlawfully exporting classified material, and accepting bribes — all in the service of a foreign adversary.
“This defendant swore an oath to defend the United States — instead, he betrayed it for a payout and put America’s military and service members at risk,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi in a statement.
She continued, “The Justice Department remains vigilant against China’s efforts to target our military and will ensure that those who leak military secrets spend years behind bars.”
From May 2022 until his arrest in March 2024, Schultz conspired with an individual from Hong Kong, whom he believed to be affiliated with the Chinese government — referred to in court filings as Conspirator A.
That individual masqueraded as a geopolitical analyst on a freelance website but quickly turned the relationship into an espionage pipeline.
For just $42,000, Schultz sold out American troops, revealing tactical and technical data, training documents, and sensitive material relating to U.S. missile defense and aerial combat capabilities.
Among the leaked documents, according to the DOJ:
- His Army unit’s operational order before it was deployed to Eastern Europe in support of NATO operations;
- Lessons learned by the U.S. Army from the Ukraine/Russia conflict applicable to Taiwan’s defense;
- Technical manuals for the HH-60 helicopter, F-22A fighter aircraft, and Intercontinental Ballistic Missile systems;
- Information on Chinese military tactics and the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force;
- Details on U.S. military exercises in the Republic of Korea and the Philippines;
- Documents concerning U.S. military satellites and missile defense systems like the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).
- Tactics for countering unmanned aerial systems in large-scale combat operations.
“This sentencing is a stark warning to those who betray our country: you will pay a steep price for it,” said FBI Director Kash Patel.
“The People’s Republic of China is relentless in its efforts to steal our national defense information, and service members are a prime target. The FBI and our partners will continue to root out espionage and hold those accountable who abandon their obligation to safeguard defense information from hostile foreign governments,” Patel added.
Perhaps even more disturbing, Schultz reportedly tried to recruit another Army intelligence analyst to expand the espionage ring — specifically targeting someone working within the Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), which oversees U.S. operations near China.
Discussions between Schultz and his handler reveal a premeditated plan to expand access to highly classified Indo-Pacific strategy documents.
Brigadier General Rhett R. Cox, commander of the Army’s Counterintelligence Command, called the betrayal “a disgrace” and confirmed that Schultz’s actions put real lives at risk.
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