Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-N.C.) has introduced new legislation that would mandate harsher prison terms for those responsible for carrying out espionage for America’s top adversaries, namely China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
Harrigan, who serves on the House’s Armed Services and Science, Space and Technology committees, introduced the Foreign Adversary Federal Offense (FAFO) Act (HR 4081), which would set a minimum prison sentence of 15 years for defense-related espionage and at least 10 years in prison without parole for economic espionage.
Corporations or other organizations found guilty of economic espionage would face a fine of $20 million or five times the value of the stolen trade secret.
“My FAFO Act is a direct response to the growing threat posed by foreign adversaries targeting the United States from within,” Harrigan said in a statement on June 24. “When individuals steal defense secrets or compromise our critical infrastructure on behalf of China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea, they are committing an act of betrayal against this country.
“This legislation ensures they face severe, unrelenting consequences. There will be no plea deals, no light sentences, and no path to parole. If you betray America, you will face the full weight of American justice.”
According to the bill, the penalties would be specific to those advancing the interests of a “covered nation” under a U.S. law restricting the Department of Defense’s procurement of sensitive materials from a list of foreign countries, including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
Under the legislation, the penalties would be imposed if the espionage threatens or harms critical U.S. infrastructure.
The legislation is cosponsored by Reps. Brad Knott (R-N.C.), James Baird (R-Ind.), Addison McDowell (R-N.C.), Michael Rulli (R-Ohio), and Derek Schmidt (R-Kan.).
Cases
In a series of posts on the social media platform X on June 24, Harrigan pointed to several criminal cases in recent years and how the defendants would have faced stiffer penalties under his proposed bill.
U.S. Naval Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, of California’s Monterey Park, was sentenced to 27 months in prison and fined $5,500 in January 2024, after pleading guilty to one count of conspiring with a Chinese intelligence officer and one count of receiving a bribe.
Another U.S. Navy sailor, Jinchao Wei, who served aboard the amphibious assault ship the USS Essex, was indicted in August 2023 for conspiracy to send national defense information to a Chinese intelligence officer. Wei allegedly provided China with information about the assault ship and other Navy ships. His trial is ongoing.
According to Harrigan, Zhao and Wei would have each faced a minimum of 15 years in prison with no parole under his legislation.
Harrigan said Haitao Xiang, who was sentenced to 29 months in prison in April 2022, would have faced “at least 10 years in prison” under his legislation.
Xiang, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit economic espionage, worked for U.S. agribusiness giant Monsanto and its subsidiary The Climate Corporation from 2008 to June 2017. He tried to steal a trade secret involving an algorithm of an online farming software developed by his employer and take it to China’s state-run Chinese Academy of Science’s Institute of Soil Science.
Korbein Schultz, a former U.S. Army intelligence officer, would have faced a minimum of 15 years and up to life in prison under his legislation, Harrigan said, instead of the seven-year imprisonment he was sentenced to in April.
Schultz, who pleaded guilty in August 2024, sold U.S. military information to someone believed to be affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party for $42,000. The information included U.S. military satellites, missile defense systems, and lessons learned by the U.S. Army from the Russian war in Ukraine.
Former Broadcom engineer Peter Kisang Kim was sentenced to eight months in prison in September 2022, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California. Kim stole trade secrets for semiconductor chips used in high-volume data centers and took them to a new job as director of a China-based startup.
Under Harrigan’s legislation, Kim would have faced a minimum sentence of 10 years with no parole.
“For too long, our top adversaries like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea have stolen our secrets, weakened our industries, and threatened our security through espionage. That ends now,” Harrigan wrote in a separate X post on June 24.
“This is about putting American strength, American innovation, and American national security FIRST.”
