A former U.S. Army intelligence analyst has been sentenced to seven years in prison for selling classified military documents to a foreign national suspected of ties to the Chinese government, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Sgt. Korbein Schultz, 25, of Wills Point, Texas, pleaded guilty last August to six federal charges, including conspiracy to transmit national defense information, bribery, and exporting technical defense data. He faced a maximum of 65 years but was handed a seven-year sentence and three years of supervised release in federal court in Nashville.
Schultz, who served with the 506th Infantry Battalion at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, was arrested in March 2024 after a probe revealed that he had transferred at least 92 sensitive documents to a contact believed to be working for China.
Prosecutors said Schultz received $42,000 in exchange for the trove of data, which included:
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Technical manuals for the HH-60 helicopter and F-22A fighter jet
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Intercontinental ballistic missile system information
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U.S. military tactics and exercises in South Korea and the Philippines
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Operational orders for a NATO deployment in Eastern Europe
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Army analyses of the Russia-Ukraine war relevant to Taiwan’s defense
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A counter-drone tactics playbook for large-scale combat
“Protecting classified information is paramount to our national security,” said Brig. Gen. Rhett R. Cox, commander of the Army Counterintelligence Command. “This soldier’s actions put Army personnel at risk, placing individual gain above personal honor.”
The Justice Department said Schultz’s contact, who lived in Hong Kong and claimed to work for a geopolitical consulting firm, began communicating with him soon after he received top secret clearance.
Investigators also revealed that Schultz attempted—unsuccessfully—to recruit another Army intelligence officer to aid in gathering more classified materials.
His defense attorney, Mary Kathryn Harcombe, declined to comment on the outcome.
The sentencing comes amid rising concern over foreign espionage targeting U.S. military and defense technology.
