NASHVILLE, Tennessee — An Army soldier has pleaded guilty to charges that accuse him of selling sensitive information regarding US military capabilities, including dozens of documents on topics ranging from missile systems to Chinese military tactics.
Sgt. Korbein Schultz, who was also an intelligence analyst, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Nashville. He had previously pleaded not guilty, but last month requested a hearing to change his plea.
In total, Schultz received at least 14 payments worth a total of $42,000, prosecutors said.
Schultz was charged in a six-count indictment, including conspiracy to obtain and disclose military defense information and bribery of a government official. The 24-year-old was arrested in March at Fort Campbell, which straddles the Tennessee-Kentucky border, shortly after the indictment was unsealed.
He pleaded guilty to all charges against him and will be sentenced on Jan. 23, 2025. A federal public defender representing Schultz declined to comment Tuesday.
“Let this case serve as a warning: If any member of the military, former or current, is asked for classified or sensitive information, he or she must report it to the appropriate authorities within 24 hours or face full accountability for his or her failure to act,” said Brig. Gen. Rhett R. Cox, commanding general of the Army Counterintelligence Command, in a press release.
The indictment alleged that Schultz — who held a top-secret security clearance — conspired with an individual identified only as “Conspirator A” to release various documents, photographs and other national defense materials beginning in June 2022. The indictment said 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.
Schultz is said to have provided information on, among other things, rocket, missile, and artillery weapons systems, including the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System; hypersonic equipment; tactics to counter drones; U.S. military satellites; studies on future developments of U.S. armed forces; and studies on military exercises and operations in major countries such as China.
The indictment stated that Schultz was initially asked to provide documents detailing lessons learned from Russia’s war with Ukraine and how those lessons could be applied to the U.S. in helping Taiwan in the event of an attack. Schultz was paid $200 for that information, which then led to Conspirator A asking for a “long-term partnership.”
Conspirator A, described in the indictment as a foreigner claiming to live in Hong Kong, later suggested that Schultz could make more money if he handed over “only internal” material rather than unclassified documents.
