A former United States Army NCO now faces up to 10 years in prison for attempting to pass military secrets to China. Joseph Daniel Schmidt, 31, who was active-duty with the Army from January 2015 to January 2020, and reached the rank of sergeant, pleaded guilty last week in the United States District Court in Seattle to two federal felonies.
He will be sentenced in September.
During his time in the U.S. Army, Schmidt served in the 109th Military Intelligence Battalion at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), where he had access to classified information at the Secret and Top Secret levels.
According to investigators, after his separation from the U.S. Army, he contacted the Chinese Consulate in Turkey and subsequently the Chinese security services via email, offering national defense information. He reportedly sent an email with the subject line “Important Information to Share with Chinese Government.”
Cybersecurity and intelligence experts have called his “tradecraft” efforts to make contact extremely amateurish. The FBI investigated the case and was assisted by the U.S. Army Counterintelligence Command.
Contact Established With the Chinese
Just months after his time in the Army ended, in March 2020, the former intelligence sergeant traveled to Hong Kong, where he continued his efforts to provide classified information to the Chinese during his service.
The Army alleged that he created multiple lengthy documents, which described various “high-level secrets,” and offered the information to the Chinese government. Schmidt also retained a device that allowed access to secure military computer networks and offered the device to the Chinese. It could have aided in efforts to gain access to the same computer networks.
It is unclear what classified information was provided to the Chinese government.
According to the U.S. Army, the former service member remained in China, primarily in Hong Kong, until October 2023, when he flew back to San Francisco. He was arrested upon his arrival, but it is also unclear if he expected to be charged or even knew he was under investigation.
In addition to a potential 10-year prison sentence, Schmidt faces a $250,000 fine.
“This was not a lapse in judgment—this individual failed to uphold his oath to defend our Nation and to protect the lives of those he served beside,” said Brigadier General Rhett R. Cox, Commanding General of U.S. Army Counterintelligence Command. “By attempting to provide classified information to China, he put our mission at risk and abandoned his fellow Soldiers for personal gain. These actions threaten our national security. I encourage all Soldiers and Army Civilians, if you see or hear something suspicious, please report it to Army Counterintelligence.”
A Case of Ideology
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) did not specify whether Schmidt attempted to sell or simply give away the classified information to China. However, it appears he was motivated by ideology more than money.
“I don’t talk about it often, but I learned some really terrible things about the American government while I was working in the Army, and I no longer feel safe living in America or like I want to support the American government,” Schmidt said in an email to his sister that was discovered during the investigation.
Schmidt’s arrest was followed by multiple other service members being charged with spying for Beijing. The most recent occurred in March when two active-duty United States Army soldiers and one former soldier were arrested for attempting to pass military secrets to China, including information related to U.S. military weapon platforms, notably the M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle and Stryker eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicle.
In 2023, two U.S. Navy sailors were also arrested for each accepting bribes after they passed military secrets to China. One of the two sailors was sentenced to 27 months in prison, while the other faces life in prison.
A third sailor, a fire control man who was convicted of attempted espionage, was sentenced in May 2024 to 18 years in prison.
