Ex-Army Sergeant Sentenced 4 Years for Attempting to Share Secrets with China

Joseph Daniel Schmidt, a former Army intelligence sergeant with top secret clearance at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, was sentenced to four years in federal prison and three years of supervised release for attempting to pass national defense secrets to China. Schmidt, who served from 2015 to 2020 and was discharged following a mental health episode, created and offered classified documents and a device capable of accessing secure Army networks to Chinese security services. After leaving the Army, he traveled to Hong Kong in 2020 and maintained contact with Chinese officials until his arrest in San Francisco in October 2023. U.S. authorities expressed concern over China's efforts to recruit former military personnel with sensitive information, with Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd condemning Schmidt's actions as endangering national security. The judge acknowledged Schmidt's mental health issues when imposing a sentence significantly below the maximum penalty, which could have been up to 20 years in prison and a substantial fine. The case highlights ongoing espionage threats and the challenges of balancing justice with mental health considerations in national security cases.