- American citizen Thomas Pauken pleads guilty to spying for China
- Acted as a paid middleman collecting sensitive US information
- Faces up to 10 years in prison; sentencing set for Sept 2026
A 50-year-old American citizen has pleaded guilty to spying for China, and against the United States of America, and is now looking at a potential prison sentence of up to 10 years.
An announcement published on the website of the US Department of Justice (DoJ) stated Thomas Weir Pauken II conspired with multiple individuals and served as a middleman in data exfiltration.
Citing court documents, the DoJ said that in 2017, Pauken met with an unidentified person known only as ‘Cathy’. This person gave Pauken hardware (laptops, phones), told him who to meet, what kind of information to gather, and to report back to her.
Selling data to the Chinese
Cathy paid Pauken at least $100,000 for his effort and paid for multiple travels from China to the US to meet with these individuals and obtain the intelligence required.
Pauken also said he worked with two more individuals, named ‘Richard’ and ‘William’, who told him that the reports he was preparing went to Japan. He believed they, too, worked for the Chinese government.
Pauken also apparently sold reports to a group of Chinese individuals from Wuhan, interested in information about technology and the DOJ. These individuals were also interested in finding an expert hacker for espionage campaigns.
“In effect, Pauken admitted to being part of a conspiracy to obtain sensitive information from the U.S. government for the PRC,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg.
“His actions are a betrayal of this Nation and pose an unacceptable risk to our national security. NSD remains committed to safeguarding information essential to our national security, including through appropriate prosecution.”
Pauken’s sentencing is scheduled for September 1, 2026, where he is facing a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
“By his own admission, not only did Thomas Pauken attempt to infiltrate U.S. political circles at the direction of China’s Ministry of State Security, but he gathered intelligence on his American targets and reported it back to his Chinese intelligence handlers,” said Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division.
“This case illustrates the lengths to which the Chinese Communist Party will go to undermine our democratic institutions and degrade our political freedoms, but it also demonstrates the FBI’s resolve to defend the homeland from threats to our national security. Let this plea serve as a clear warning: If you attempt to help a foreign adversary as an unregistered agent in the U.S., the FBI will find you and bring you to justice.”
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