Sgt Korbein Schultz was allegedly paid $42,000 in exchange for dozens of sensitive security data.

A US Army analyst has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to sell military secrets to China, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has said.

Sgt Korbein Schultz was arrested in March after an investigation by the FBI and US Army counterintelligence alleged that he was paid $42,000 (£33,000) in exchange for dozens of sensitive security records.

The criminal conspiracy began in June 2022 and continued up until his arrest, officials said.

    • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
      175·
      5 months ago

      They’re thinking “My employer doesn’t pay me enough for me to live comfortably, gotta do something about it…”

      • ccunning@lemmy.world
        18·
        5 months ago

        If they were struggling financially they wouldn’t have been granted a clearance in the first place.

        After being promised more money from his handler, he said in another message: “I hope so! I need to get my other BMW back!”.

        …maybe they skimped on the background check?

        • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
          61·
          5 months ago

          You can get your background check and get in financial trouble after the fact and you can also get the job and realize that you’re underpaid for your level of responsibility… But it might have been greed plain and simple.

          • ccunning@lemmy.world
            41·
            5 months ago

            Definitely - especially since they’re given clearances while they’re still practically kids and have no substantial financial history.

            Basically, if you can get approved for a credit card with a $100 limit, you can get approved for a security clearance.

        • Warl0k3@lemmy.world
          5·
          5 months ago

          In theory sure. In practice, damn near anyone can get a clearance if their CO leans on the evaluating body a little. It’s ridiculous some of people we happily hand serious, hardcore state secrets to

        • sp3ctr4l@lemmy.zip
          3·
          5 months ago

          I was going to make a joke about a relatively young, new member of the military blowing their signing bonus as a downpayment on a car they can’t really afford, but uh… ate the onion.

          There’s a reason many military bases have a ton of car dealerships in close proximity.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
          41·
          5 months ago

          I remember people on Reddit talking about how these young enlisted guys would see their military paychecks and just buy shit right and left not realizing that they can’t actually afford it. So all these sergeants would have brand new expensive cars parked at their barracks (or however that works).

          • ccunning@lemmy.world
            6·
            5 months ago

            Hopefully by the time they reach Sergeant they have more sense than that.

            There definitely is truth to stereotype of privates buying Hellcats at the low low rate of 24.99% APY though…

    • yeather
      63·
      5 months ago

      They’re thinking it’s an easy payday for information that is probably going to be declassified anyways