An Army soldier has been arrested on suspicion of selling sensitive information related to U.S. military capabilities, Justice Department officials said Thursday.
Sgt. Korbein Schultz, who also worked as an intelligence analyst, was indicted on six counts, including conspiracy to obtain and disclose military defense information and bribery of public officials. The 24-year-old was arrested shortly after the indictment was released Thursday at Fort Campbell, which straddles the Tennessee-Kentucky border.
“The men and women of the United States Armed Forces devote their lives to keeping our country safe,” U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Henry C. Leventis told reporters. “Our laws protecting defense information are critical to this mission and must be enforced. The illegal dissemination of defense information puts our country, our fellow citizens, our service members and our allies at risk.”
According to the indictment, Schultz, who holds a top-secret security clearance, allegedly conspired with an individual known only as “Conspirator A” to leak various documents, photos and other defense materials since June 2022. The indictment alleges that Schultz was an individual who was recruited not only because of his security clearance but also because of his mission to collect sensitive U.S. military information.
Some of the information Schultz allegedly provided to the individual included information related to high-mobility artillery rocket systems, hypersonic equipment, research into future developments in the U.S. military, and military exercises and operations in major countries such as China.
Lessons from the Ukraine War
The indictment outlines 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 United States helping Taiwan in the event of an attack. Schultz was paid $200 for the information, prompting Co-Conspirator A to demand a “long-term partnership.”
Co-conspirator A, described in the indictment as a foreigner who claimed to live in Hong Kong, later said he could make more money if Schultz turned over “internal-only” material instead of unclassified documents.
In total, Schultz received at least 14 payments totaling $42,000.
“The defendants and their co-conspirators also discussed recruiting another member of the U.S. military to join their conspiracy and provide additional defense information to conceal their illegal conduct,” Leventis said.
Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ruth Castro said in a statement that Schultz has been in the Army since November 2018 and his hometown is Wells Point, Texas.
Fort Campbell spokesman Lt. Col. Tony Hefler said Schultz was previously assigned to Fort Cavazot, Texas, and deployed to Eastern Europe.
The case is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions of current or former service members accused of illegally leaking sensitive government secrets.
In April 2023, Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was accused of leaking highly classified military information about Russia’s war in Ukraine on Discord, a social media platform popular with people who play online games. document. He pleaded guilty on Monday in a deal with prosecutors that requires him to serve at least 11 years in prison.
In August, two U.S. Navy sailors were charged with providing sensitive military information to China, including details of wartime exercises, naval operations and critical technical materials.
Most recently, the Justice Department this week announced charges against a civilian Air Force employee and retired Army lieutenant colonel for allegedly sharing classified information about the war in Ukraine on a foreign dating website.
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