A State Department employee was sentenced on Thursday to 48 months in prison after sharing classified information with individuals working for the Chinese government.
According to court documents, Michael Charles Schena communicated with people he believed to be linked to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) through online platforms, sharing sensitive U.S. government information in exchange for money. Schena traveled to Peru in August 2024, where he received $10,000 and a cellphone to be used for sharing the information.
The former State Department employee later used the cellphone to “photograph and transmit at least four classified documents that contained national defense information and which were classified at the SECRET level,” the Justice Department explained. Schena was caught on camera engaging in these activities and arrested by the FBI.
“The defendant threw away his career, betrayed his country, and abused the trust the United States placed in him by granting his Top-Secret security clearance. He will spend years of his life in prison for passing classified information to individuals he believed to be Chinese government agents,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg. “Today’s sentence serves as a warning to those who would violate the trust placed in them by our Nation and double-cross the American people.”
U.S. Attorney Erik S. Siebert for the Eastern District of Virginia said Schena’s “disgraceful betrayal of his country is far more than the paltry amount for which he traded his honor.” He stated that the former employee’s actions cost him his integrity, reputation, and freedom.
