National Security News Update

Offices of the United States Attorneys

You are subscribed to National Security news updates. This information has recently been updated, and is now available. U.S. Navy Sailor Convicted of Spying for China 08/20/2025 08:00 AM EDT SAN DIEGO – Jinchao Wei, who was an active-duty U.S. Navy sailor stationed at Naval Base San Diego when he agreed to sell Navy secrets to a Chinese intelligence officer for $12,000, was convicted by a federal jury today of espionage. Following a five-day trial and one day of deliberation, the jury convicted Wei of six crimes, including conspiracy to commit espionage, espionage, and unlawful export of, and conspiracy to export, technical data related to defense articles in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. He was found not guilty of one count of naturalization fraud. Wei is scheduled to be sentenced on December 1 at 9 a.m. Alien from Wuhan, China Enters No Contest Plea to Smuggling Biological Materials into the U.S. for Her Work at a University of Michigan Laboratory and For Lying About the Shipments 08/19/2025 08:00 AM EDT Colombian National Sentenced To 150 Months In Prison For Conspiring To Import Tons Of Cocaine Into The United States 08/19/2025 08:00 AM EDT United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced that Alberto Alonso Jaramillo Ramirez was sentenced today to 150 months in prison for conspiring to import cocaine into the United States.   Chinese National Sentenced for Acting at North Korea's Direction to Export Firearms, Ammo, Tech to N. Korea 08/19/2025 08:00 AM EDT An illegal alien from China was sentenced to 96 months in prison for illegally exporting firearms, ammunition, and other military items to North Korea by concealing them inside shipping containers that departed from the Port of Long Beach, and for committing this crime at the direction of North Korean government officials, who wired him approximately $2 million for his efforts.      New Jersey Resident Sentenced for Role in Global Export Control and Sanctions Evasion Scheme 08/18/2025 08:00 AM EDT In federal court in Brooklyn, New York, a New Jersey resident and dual U.S. and Russian national, Vadim Yermolenko, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in a transnational arms dealing and money laundering network that sought to acquire ammunition and sensitive dual-use electronics for Russian military and intelligence services. In addition to the term of imprisonment Yermolenko was ordered to pay a forfeiture money judgment of $75,547.  Yermolenko pleaded guilty in November 2024 to conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act, bank fraud conspiracy, and conspiracy to defraud the United States. New Jersey Resident Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Role in Global Export Control and Sanctions Evasion Scheme 08/18/2025 08:00 AM EDT BROOKLYN, NY – Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, dual U.S. and Russian national Vadim Yermolenko was sentenced by United States District Judge Hector Gonzalez to 30 months in prison for his role in an illicit procurement and money laundering network that sought to acquire ammunition and sensitive dual-use electronics for Russian military and intelligence services.  Chinese National Sentenced to 8 Years in Federal Prison for Acting at North Korea's Direction to Export Firearms, Ammo, Tech to N. Korea 08/18/2025 08:00 AM EDT An illegal alien from China was sentenced today to 96 months in federal prison for illegally exporting firearms, ammunition and other military items to North Korea by concealing them inside shipping containers that departed from the Port of Long Beach, and for committing this crime at the direction of North Korean government officials, who wired him approximately $2 million for his efforts.

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