A former Army reservist was convicted in federal court Monday of acting as an agent for the Chinese government to recruit people working for U.S. defense contractors.
The Department of Justice said a jury found 31-year-old Ji Chaoqun guilty on two counts related to working for the Chinese Communist Party, and one count of making a material false statement to the U.S. Army.
He faces up to 15 years in prison for both charges. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
Federal officials said that Ji took orders from a high-level intelligence officer in the Jiangsu Province Ministry of State Security (JSSD), which operates under the Chinese government’s Ministry of State Security.
The intelligence officer tasked Ji, a Chinese citizen living in Chicago, with collecting information on possible recruits to the JSSD. Some of those sought after by Ji included Chinese nationals working as scientists and engineers for U.S. defense contractors.
When Ji enlisted in 2016 with a U.S. Army reserve program that can recruit qualified legal aliens, federal officials said that Ji lied on his application about having contact with a foreign government in the past seven years. He again lied about his contact with Chinese government officials during a later interview with a U.S. Army officer.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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