Jurors began deliberating Tuesday in the trial of a San Diego-based sailor facing espionage charges for allegedly selling military secrets to a Chinese intelligence officer.

Jinchao Wei, 25, who worked as a machinist’s mate aboard the USS Essex, is accused of sending sensitive information pertaining to U.S. Navy ships to a person he met online.

Prosecutors allege Wei was initially contacted in early 2022 over a Chinese social media site.

During those initial conversations, Wei was offered $500 to look into where various Navy ships were docked, which prosecutors say prompted Wei to tell a fellow sailor, “This is quite obviously (expletive) espionage.”

Over the next 18 months, Wei was paid thousands of dollars to send photographs and videos of the USS Essex, as well as thousands of pages

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