Asians behaving badly... selling military secrets edition! Last week in Virginia, a Navy intelligence specialist pleaded guilty to four counts of attempted espionage and seven counts of mishandling classified information: Sailor pleads guilty to espionage charges in Norfolk.Petty Officer 2nd Class Bryan Minkyu Martin, a low-level Navy clerk who was arrested last December, admitted that he smuggled classified documents out of Fort Bragg and sold them for $11,500 to a man he believed was a Chinese intelligence officer. Turns out, the Chinese dude was actually an FBI undercover agent:
Over four meetings between Nov. 15 and Dec. 1, he passed more than a dozen secret and top secret documents and images to a man he believed to be a Chinese intelligence officer, who he knew only as "Mr. Lee."According to authorities, Martin never actually delivered classified information to anyone not authorized to see it. But Martin fully admitted during court martial proceedings that he was aware his actions "would harm the national security of the United States." Thanks, dude. For being a crappy American.
In exchange, the Chinese officer - actually an undercover FBI agent - paid Martin a total of $11,500. After at least two of the transactions, Martin signed receipts for the payments.
Asked to describe the documents, Martin said they contained information about current naval operations and intelligence assessments, including photos, satellite images and details about U.S. operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
