Two Chinese nationals sentenced to prison for spying on US Navy

Two Chinese nationals received prison sentences for gathering intelligence on U.S. Navy personnel, recruiting potential assets and facilitating clandestine cash payments on behalf of China's Ministry of State Security.(CN) — A federal judge sentenced two Chinese nationals to prison on Friday for their roles in an intelligence-gathering operation targeting U.S. service members and civilian employees on behalf of the People’s Republic of China.Liren “Ryan” Lai, 40, and Yuance Chen, 39, both spied on potential U.S. military assets and delivered clandestine cash deposits at the behest of the Chinese government’s Ministry of State Security, the Department of Justice said in a press release.U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar, a Barack Obama appointee, sentenced Lai and Chen each to two and a half years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.“These defendants were directed by a foreign intelligence service to gather information about the U.S. military in the hopes of undermining our national security,” U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Craig Missakian said in the release. “This office and our federal law enforcement partners stand watch day and night to prevent our adversaries from doing just that, and we will continue to do so. There are many nations around the world that wish this country ill, and today’s sentences should demonstrate our commitment to holding accountable anyone who poses a similar threat to our nation.”Both men pleaded guilty within the past year to conspiracy to act as agents of a foreign government without prior notification to the attorney general, court filings show.Lai, who resides in China, traveled to the United States multiple times on visitor visas and recruited Chen to work with Chinese intelligence officials, the DOJ says. Chen, who has been a lawful permanent resident of the United States since his 2019 marriage to a U.S. citizen, helped Lai develop intelligence assets and facilitate “dead drop” cash payments.In 2022, while the two men were in China, they helped facilitate a clandestine cash payment of about $10,000 left inside a backpack in a locker at a recreational facility in Livermore, California.That same year, Chen gathered information about U.S. military installations and personnel at the direction of Lai and other Chinese intelligence officers, including photographing U.S. Navy installations in Bremerton, Washington, the DOJ says. Chen also photographed sailors and recruits at Navy recruiting stations in Southern California, the majority of whom reportedly listed their hometowns in China, the feds say.Chen also collected personal identifying information about Navy civilian employees and maintained biographical information about potential intelligence targets, the DOJ says. Chen later attempted to contact and recruit these Navy employees as intelligence assets.In 2023, the DOJ claims Lai traveled to the United States in 2023 to deliver a cellphone to Chen for covert communications with Chinese intelligence officials.Chen also traveled to China in 2024 and 2025, where he met with Chinese intelligence officials and received additional assignments to spy on U.S. service members.Lai returned to the United States in 2025 to carry out more assignments for the Chinese government, including another dead drop of $20,000 in a parking garage in Phoenix, according to the DOJ.Lai and Chen were both arrested in an FBI operation in June 2025.An additional dead drop of $20,000 was made in San Francisco in 2024 by an unnamed co-conspirator who was part of operation.In the indictment, the feds identify two other unnamed co-conspirators as well as multiple unnamed Chinese intelligence officers and Chinese intelligence assets. The DOJ says the operation goes back as early as 2015.Lai and Chen acted as agents of the Ministry of State Security going back to at least May 2021.Attorneys for Lai and Chen did not respond to requests for comment.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads