Ex-soldier at JBLM admits to trying to share secrets with China
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- A former U.S. Army sergeant admitted to trying to share military secrets with China.
- Joseph Daniel Schmidt, 31, was last stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
- Schmidt pleaded guilty to two felonies and faces up to 10 years in prison.
A former U.S. Army sergeant last stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord pleaded guilty Wednesday to trying to share military secrets with China, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Joseph Daniel Schmidt, 31, admitted to retaining and attempting to deliver national defense information, two federal felonies for which he faces up to 10 years in prison when sentenced on Sept. 9, according to a DOJ news release.
Schmidt was an active-duty soldier from 2015 to 2020 whose primary assignment was in the 109th Military Intelligence Battalion at JBLM, providing him access to secret and top secret information. After he left the military, he reached out to the Chinese Consulate in Turkey and Chinese security services via email to offer national defense information, the DOJ said.
He traveled to Hong Kong in March 2020 and continued efforts to provide classified information to Chinese intelligence, creating multiple documents that described high-level secrets and offering the Chinese government a device that would enable it to access secure military computer networks, according to the DOJ.
Schmidt was primarily in Hong Kong until October 2023 when he flew to San Francisco and was arrested at San Francisco International Airport.
An attorney representing Schmidt declined to comment Wednesday.
Schmidt’s guilty pleas in U.S. District Court in Seattle come three months after two active-duty soldiers stationed at JBLM and a former soldier were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to steal and sell military secrets to individuals in China, The News Tribune previously reported.
This story was originally published June 18, 2025 at 1:34 PM with the headline "Ex-soldier at JBLM admits to trying to share secrets with China."
