Former US Army NCO Joseph Daniel Schmidt (31) pleaded guilty to selling secrets to China. He faces up to ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine when sentenced by USDJ John C. Coughenour on 9 Sep 2025. Schmidt was an active-duty soldier from Jan 2015 to Jan 2020. At the 109th MI BN, Schmidt had access to SECRET and TOP SECRET information. After he left the US Army, Schmidt reached out to the Chinese Consulate in Turkiye and ten the MSS via email offering national defense information (NDI). In March 2020, Schmidt traveled to Hong Kong and continued his efforts to provide the MSS with NDI he obtained from his military service. He retained a device that allows for access to secure military computer networks and offered the device to Chinese authorities to assist them in efforts to gain access to such networks. Schmidt remained in China, primarily Hong Kong, until Oct 2023, when he flew to San Francisco and was arrested by the FBI at the airport.
Chinese intelligence, AKA the Ministry of State Security (MSS), uses the "thousand grains of sand" approach to patiently collecting intelligence. The volume of small bits or large chunks of NDI the MSS receives results in a rich mosaic of information for analysts in Beijing. The MSS creates dossiers linking images, personnel, email addresses, phone numbers, weapons systems, schedules, test launches, etc. The amount of compensation Schmidt received is not reported, but whatever it is, this young man threw away his life with his awful decision and amateurish tradecraft. US Army Counterintelligence has a rich tradition dating back to the First World War. During the Second World War, CIC was invaluable in capturing Nazi rocket scientists and recovering art treasures looted by the Third Reich.
