Former Army sergeant indicted for efforts to give classified information to China
He allegedly pinged China's security services offering classified information.
A former U.S. Army sergeant was arrested Friday at the San Francisco airport and indicted on charges that he unlawfully retained classified information and attempted to deliver it to China's security services, the Justice Department announced.
Joseph Daniel Schmidt, 29, served as an active duty soldier between 2015 and 2020 with his primary assignment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, prosecutors said. Two months after leaving the Army, he traveled to Hong Kong after he had allegedly reached out to China's consulate in Turkey and later directly to China's security services offering classified information, according to the statement.
While in Hong Kong, he continued his efforts to pass classified intelligence to the Chinese and "allegedly retained a device that allows for access to secure military computer networks and offered the device to Chinese authorities to assist them in efforts to gain access to such networks," the Justice Department said.
He remained in China until this week, DOJ said, when he scheduled a trip to San Francisco.
Each count carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years in prison and as much as $250,000 in fines. He has not yet entered a plea.