A federal judge in Tacoma ordered an active-duty JBLM soldier to remain in federal custody amid allegations he and two others sold defense secrets to Chinese interests.
First Lt. Li Tian said very little, while wearing a tan prison jumpsuit and crocs as he tried to make the case that he should be released pending the outcome of his case.
He and Sgt. Jian Zhao, who have both been stationed at JBLM, were indicted by a federal grand jury along with Ruoyu Duon, a former soldier, and are accused of a long-running conspiracy to steal and sell government secrets.
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“Jian Zhao, and Li Tian, active-duty U.S. Army soldiers stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, along with Ruoyu Duan, a former U.S. Army soldier, were arrested today following indictments by federal grand juries in the District of Oregon and the Western District of Washington,” the agency said.
“Tian and Duan were charged in the District of Oregon for conspiring to commit bribery and theft of government property. Zhao was charged in the Western District of Washington for conspiring to obtain and transmit national defense information to an individual not authorized to receive it, and also for bribery and theft of government property,” it continued.
The indictments claim Zhao talked about moving back to China, and the three transmitted “top-secret” and “confidential” material that Zhao called “brigade level” stuff and things like “strategic and operation rockets and missiles.”
The indictments claim there is significant evidence of the scheme, including paypal payment receipts, along with messages on WeChat and Facebook Messenger. They also show a photo purportedly of one of the men taking pictures of classified materials and multiple hard drives as well.
The government claims it may not have all of the stolen material.
Duon, who was living in Hillsboro, Oregon, at the time of his arrest, was seen today before a judge in Oregon. It is believed Zhao and Tian will be transferred to Oregon as the case continues.