Former Army sergeant convicted of trying to give state secrets to China after mental health spiral

A former Army sergeant who once held a top-secret clearance at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison for attempting to provide national defense information to China.

Joseph Daniel Schmidt, 31, pleaded guilty in June to attempting to deliver and retain classified material, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said. U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour also ordered three years of supervised release.

Schmidt’s conviction comes as US authorities warn of China’s growing efforts to recruit or exploit former military personnel with access to sensitive information.

“As a retired military officer, I believe it is unconscionable for a former soldier to endanger his colleagues and country by selling classified information and access to intelligence to a hostile foreign power,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd.

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Schmidt enlisted in 2015 and served in the Army’s 109th Military Intelligence Battalion until 2020. Prosecutors said he had access to both classified and top-secret systems and later contacted Chinese consular officials after he left the military.

Court records show that Schmidt created several documents based on classified material and presented them to Chinese security services. He also possessed a device that could access secure military networks, which prosecutors say he offered to Chinese officials.

After leaving the military, Schmidt traveled to Hong Kong in March 2020 and continued to correspond with Chinese contacts. He lived there for more than three years before flying to San Francisco in October 2023, where he was arrested. He pleaded guilty in June 2025 and was sentenced Tuesday in Seattle.

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Schmidt tried to sell U.S. state secrets to China through the consulate in Turkey before bringing charges against Chinese security services, the DOJ said. (Brother Berry)

Coughenour said he weighed “the seriousness of Schmidt’s crime and his mental health at the time.” A DOJ spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital that the judge considered Schmidt’s mental health as a mitigating factor during sentencing.

The agency said Schmidt’s separation from the military followed a mental health episode, and officials added that no classified material was believed to have reached China.

“The FBI and our partners will remain vigilant in our mission to protect our nation,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the Seattle Field Office.

Joseph Daniel Schmidt was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington State while serving in the Army. (Facebook/Joint Base Lewis-McChord)

Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg said Schmidt “created documents based on classified and national defense information. He used his training to provide sensitive information to China’s security services. He knew what he was doing was wrong — he searched the Internet for things like ‘Can you be extradited for treason.'”

The FBI investigated the matter, with valuable assistance from the US Army Counterintelligence Command (USACC).

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The case was investigated by the FBI’s Seattle Field Office with assistance from the USACC.

The Army did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.