Overview

• U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff in the Eastern District of Virginia sentenced Michael Charles Schena, 42, to 48 months in prison.
• According to court documents, Schena began in April 2022 communicating with people he met online, provided sensitive U.S. government information for money, and believed they worked for China.
• In August 2024, he met a contact in Peru who handed him $10,000 and a dedicated iPhone intended for taskings and transmissions.
• Schena used the phone at work to photograph and transmit at least four documents marked SECRET in October 2024, and in February 2025 surveillance captured him photographing seven more before FBI agents seized the device and arrested him.
• Justice Department and FBI officials said the case warns of persistent Chinese targeting of U.S. personnel, while reporting notes prosecutors relied on Schena’s admissions about his contacts and that payments to him totaled at least $10,000 and possibly more than $37,000.