Two Army soldiers have been accused of selling military secrets
Two Washington state U.S. and former soldiers were arrested Thursday on bribery and theft charges, and were charged with separate federal charges in which they conspired to obtain and sell sensitive government information, the Department of Justice said.
The defendant was identified as First Li Li Tian, a health service manager. Sergeant. Jian Zhao, Supply Sergeant assigned to the 17th Field Artillery Brigade. Louil Duan of Hillsboro, Oregon, served in the Army from 2013 to 2017. The two soldiers were stationed at a joint base at Lewis McCord in Washington.
One indictment filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Oregon accused Li of conspiring with former soldier Duan in December last year to secretly gather confidential information about the Army’s operations, including technical manuals.
Li, during Tianan, collected sensitive information about Bradley and Striker’s armored vehicles used by the Army, and sent the information to Duane in exchange for money, federal prosecutors said.
Sergeant Zhao was charged with another indictment and was filed Wednesday in US District Court for the Western District of Washington, conspiring to obtain and sell “secret” and “secret” and prominent hard drives to Chinese buyers. The indictment says Sergeant Zhao accepted a payment of at least $15,000 around July 2024.
“The defendants arrested today are accused of betraying our country and weakening America’s defense capabilities and empowering the Chinese enemy,” Attorney General Pam Bondy said in a news release announcing his arrest. “They will face quick, harsh and comprehensive justice.”
It was not immediately clear whether any of the defendants had an attorney.
Li and Duane, during the Tianan, were accused of crimes against the United States, bribery of civil servants, and conspiracy to commit government property theft. Sergeant Chao was charged with conspiracy to collect national defense intelligence, bribery of civil servants and theft of government property.
In an encrypted exchange from October, Sergeant Zhao told the unnamed co-conspirator that he had “good things,” according to his indictment.
“A very sensitive document. He refers to the documents on Himars, multiple rocket launchers mounted on a truck, which is very difficult,” he said. He priced the file at $3,000. He settled at $6,500 with the buyer at the price of two documents.
The documents contained unclassified but sensitive information about rocket systems and military preparations in the event of an armed conflict with China, according to the Justice Department. In another instance, he sold a hard drive marked “top secret” or “secret” to Chinese buyers, federal prosecutors said. The specific contents of these hard drives were not disclosed in the indictment.
“These arrests highlight the persistent and increasing foreign intelligence threats facing our military and the nation,” Brigg said. General Lett R. Cox, commander of the Army Anti-Intelligent Command, said in a news release.
