Members of the United States military have been warned against collaborating with foreign powers following the conviction of a former U.S. Army soldier who sent national defense secrets to an American adversary.
Korbein Schultz, 25, of Wills Point, Texas, was sentenced Wednesday to seven years in prison for siphoning information off to China.
According to a Justice Department news release that followed the sentencing, Schultz originally pleaded guilty to the charges in August 2024.
A DOJ release from Aug. 13 detailed the evidence against Schultz.
According to the Justice Department, Schultz initially entered the conspiracy with a person who lived in Hong Kong, suspected by the soldier to be an agent of China. The individual requested information on missile defense and mobile artillery systems.
“Before he was arrested,” the DOJ’s August release stated, “Schultz sent Conspirator A dozens of sensitive and restricted (but unclassified) U.S. military documents regarding a variety of U.S. military weapons systems and U.S. military tactics and strategy, including documents containing export-controlled technical data.”
The U.S. Army Soldier that was Arrested today for Selling State Secrets to China appears to be the same Sergeant Korbein Schultz who was Interviewed by DVIDS in August of 2021 at Fort McCoy for his Role in Operation Allies Welcome, which saw the Evacuation of 50,000 Afghan… pic.twitter.com/rJPM0pZQFS
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 7, 2024
Schultz handed over documents and manuals on various American aircraft, as well as technical reports about the fighting in Ukraine and how the lessons may be applied to a defense of Taiwan.
Was this sentence fair?
The disgraced former soldier also handed over documents on the THAAD missile defense system and HIMARS missile systems.
Schultz gave documents concerning American military satellites and even provided the operational order of his Army unit before its deployment. For his betrayal of the country, he was paid roughly $42,000 by the individual in Hong Kong.
Along with his 84 month sentence, Schultz was savaged by high-ranking officials.
“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,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said, per the DOJ release.
“This sentencing is a stark warning to those who betray our country: You will pay a steep price for it,” FBI Director Kash Patel added.
Perhaps the most severe warning came from acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Robert E. McGuire.
“Those who collaborate with America’s foreign adversaries put our country, and those who defend it, at grave risk, and we will do whatever it takes to hold them accountable for their crimes,” McGuire said.
“We will proudly stand in support of our men and women in uniform and work diligently to protect them from people like the defendant who would sell them out for a few bucks.”
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