US army soldier pleads guilty to vending sensitive military information

An army soldier has pleaded guilty to charges that accuse him of selling sensitive information related to US military capabilities, including dozens of documents addressing topics ranging from rocket systems to Chinese military tactics.

Sgt Korbein Schultz, who was also an intelligence analyst, entered the guilty plea Tuesday in federal court in Nashville. He had previously pleaded not guilty, then last month requested a hearing to change his plea.

In total, Shultz received at least 14 payments totaling $42,000, prosecutors have said.

Schultz was accused in a six-count indictment of charges including conspiring to obtain and disclose military defense information and bribery of a public official. The 24-year-old was arrested in March at Fort Campbell, which straddles the Tennessee-Kentucky line, shortly after the indictment was released.

He pleaded guilty to all charges against him and will be sentenced on Jan 23, 2025. A federal public defender representing Schultz declined to comment Tuesday.

"Let this case serve as a warning: if any member of the Army, past or present, is asked for classified or sensitive information, they should report it to the appropriate authorities within 24 hours or be held fully accountable for their inaction, Brigadier General Rhett R Cox, Commanding General of the Army Counterintelligence Command, said in a news release.

The indictment alleged that Schultz -- who had a top-secret security clearance -- conspired with an individual identified only as Conspirator A to disclose various documents, photographs and other national defense materials since June 2022. The indictment said that Schultz was recruited by the individual not only due to his security clearance but also because he was tasked with gathering sensitive US military information.

Some of the information Schultz supposedly gave to the individual included information related to rocket, missile and artillery weapons systems, including the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System; hypersonic equipment; tactics to counter drones; US military satellites; studies on future developments of US military forces; and studies on military drills and operations in major countries such as China.

The indictment said that Schultz was initially asked to provide documents detailing lessons that could be learned from Russia's war with Ukraine and how those lessons could be applied to the US in helping Taiwan in the event of an attack. Schultz was paid $200 for that information, which then prompted Conspirator A to ask for a long-term partnership.

Conspirator A, who was described in the indictment as a foreign national purporting to reside in Hong Kong, later suggested that Schultz could earn more money if he handed over internal only material rather than unclassified documents.