US Navy Petty Officer in Japan Accused of Espionage Charges
Last month, a U.S. sailor admitted to providing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with sensitive U.S. military information.
A U.S. Navy Sailor based in Japan has been charged with espionage and communicating defense information to an employee of a foreign government on several occasions.
Bryce S. Pedicini, a chief petty officer (CPO) fire control man aboard the Japan-based destroyer USS Higgins, is accused of providing documents to a foreign citizen at least seven times between 2022 and 2023 in Hampton Roads, Virginia, and one final time while in Japan.
Hampton Roads in southeastern Virginia is the home to central military installations and commands, including Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, and Langley Air Force Base. CPO Pedicini was arrested in May 2023 after allegedly sharing documents with a foreign government employee. He has been in custody ever since.
In addition to charges of espionage and communicating defense information, CPO Pedicini is accused of failing to report foreign contacts to his superiors, failing to report solicitation of classified information, transporting classified information, and taking a personal device into a secure room. He also allegedly failed to report a foreign contact in Yokosuka last April and failed “to report solicitation of classified information by an unauthorized person.”
2 Other Sailors Caught Spying for Foreign Governments
Last month, a former U.S. Navy sailor was sentenced to 27 months in prison for providing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with sensitive U.S. military information in exchange for bribes.
Wenheng Zhao admitted to passing on sensitive military information to the CCP’s intelligence agents while working at a California naval base. He had access to restricted military facilities and secretly gathered details on the U.S. Navy’s operational security and critical infrastructures.
Zhao also admitted to passing on “plans for a large-scale maritime training exercise plans in the Pacific theater, operational orders, and electrical diagrams and blueprints” for the U.S. radar system in Okinawa, Japan. He was arrested last August alongside another sailor, Jinchao Wei, who was accused of conspiring to send defense information to a CCP agent.
Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) said last year that many Americans lack awareness about the presence of the CCP’s MSS on home soil.