US Army soldier indicted, accused of selling sensitive military information
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An Army soldier has been arrested on charges of selling sensitive information related to U.S. military capabilities, Justice Department officials said Thursday.
Korbein Schultz, who is also an intelligence analyst, was charged in a six-count indictment with, among other things, conspiracy to obtain and disclose military defense information and bribery of a government official. He was arrested at Fort Campbell, which straddles the Tennessee-Kentucky border, shortly after the indictment was released Thursday.
“The men and women of the United States Armed Forces dedicate their lives to maintaining our national security,” Henry C. Leventis, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, told reporters. “Our laws protecting national defense information are critical to that mission, and they must be enforced. The illegal dissemination of national defense information endangers our country, our fellow citizens, members of our military and our allies.”
According to the indictment, since June 2022, Schultz – who had a top-secret security clearance – allegedly conspired with an individual identified only as “Conspirator A” to disclose various documents, photographs and other national defense materials. The indictment alleges that Schultz was recruited by the individual not only because of his security clearance, but also because he was tasked with collecting sensitive U.S. military information.
Some of the information Schultz allegedly gave to the individual included information related to the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, hypersonic equipment, studies on future developments of the US Armed Forces and studies on military exercises and operations in major countries such as China.
The indictment details that Schultz was initially asked to provide documents detailing the lessons to be learned from Russia’s war with Ukraine and how those lessons could be applied to the U.S. helping Taiwan in the event of a attack. Schultz was paid $200 for that information, which then prompted Conspirator A to ask for a “long-term partnership.”
Conspirator A, described in the indictment as an alien claiming to be in Hong Kong, later suggested that Schultz could make more money if he turned over “only internal” materials instead of unclassified documents.
In total, Shultz received at least 14 payments totaling $42,000.
“The defendant and his co-conspirator also discussed recruiting another member of the United States military to join their conspiracy and provide additional national defense information to conceal their illegal conduct,” Leventis said.
The case is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions of current and former military members accused of illegally disclosing sensitive government secrets.
For example, in April 2023, Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira was accused of leaking top-secret military documents about Russia’s war in Ukraine on Discord, a social media platform popular with people who play online games. He pleaded guilty Monday in a deal with prosecutors that calls for him to serve at least 11 years in prison.
In August, two US Navy sailors were accused of providing sensitive military information to China, including details of war exercises, naval operations and critical technical equipment.
And more recently, the Justice Department this week announced charges against a civilian Air Force employee and a retired Army lieutenant colonel for allegedly sharing classified information about the war with Ukraine on a foreign dating site.
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Associated Press writer Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.