The United States Department of Justice announced this week that a former intelligence analyst was sentenced to his prison term.

The analyst for the United States Army was given a sentence of seven years in jail for selling military secrets to a contact in China, as Newsmax reported.

Wills Point, Texas resident Korbein Schultz, 25, entered a guilty plea in August 2024 to the charges of conspiring to gather and transmit information related to national defense.

More on the Guilty Plea

He also admitted to the unlawful exporting of controlled information to China, and receiving payments in exchange for sensitive, non-public information from the United States government.

In court records, Schultz referred to his contact as "Conspirator A," who was someone who claimed to reside in Hong Kong, which could have put Schultz somewhat at ease.

Schultz also reportedly promised to cooperate long-term with the individual in question.

The Conspirator's Role

According to court filings, between May 2022 and his arrest in March 2024, Schultz provided "Conspirator A" over $42,000 in return for 92 classified U.S. military documents.

"This sentencing is a stark warning to those who betray our country: you will pay a steep price for it," FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement.

"The People's Republic of China is relentless in its efforts to steal our national defense information, and service members are a prime target."

"Conspirator A" posed as a client of a geopolitical consulting firm and asked Schultz for an in-depth analysis on American military capabilities and plans, specifically regarding Taiwan and the war between Russia and Ukraine.

His Military Position

As part of his job, Schultz taught others how to handle classified information properly. That job could make his participation in this exchange particularly egregious, considering what he should know about classifications of information.

He sent, among other things, information about Russia's war in Ukraine, details on U.S. military exercises in the Republic of Korea and the Philippines.

He also transmitted documents about U.S. military satellites and missile defense systems. This could be problematic because the individual was working for the government, putting a number of institutions at risk.

This comes just a few months after the huge turnover at the Department of Justice, due to the new administration's takeover.

While the previous administration was frequently accused of engaging in cooperation with China, the Trump administration has promised to treat the country as adversarial, unless it takes steps to make the president believe otherwise.