U.S. Defense Contractor Pleads Guilty to Spying for China

I hope they throw this guy in jail for the rest of his life. A message needs to be sent to these people who so easily sell out their country like this:

A retired U.S. Army helicopter pilot pleaded guilty Thursday in San Diego for selling sensitive aviation-related information to China, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.

Shapour Moinian, 67, admitted in federal court to acting as an agent of a foreign government, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years and a $250,000 fine, according to the Thursday news release.

He also pleaded guilty to making false statements during national security background checks, which carries a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 29. As part of the plea agreement, federal prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of no more than 20 months.

“The defendant admitted to being an unregistered agent of a foreign power, lying on his background check paperwork to obtain his security clearance, knowingly providing proprietary information to people controlled by the Chinese government, and willingly receiving payments from them,” Stacey Moy, the FBI agent in charge of the case, said in the news release.

“This is another example of how the Chinese government enhances its defense capabilities through the illicit exploitation of U.S. technology,” Moy said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but of interest is that this guy was using a South Korean bank that the Chinese agents would put the money in. His stepdaughter would then take out the money from the bank for her dad.