Conspiracy

Virginia State Department Employee Arrested for Alleged Information Conspiracy

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Virginia state department employee arrested for alleged information conspiracy - photo licensed by shore news network.

State Department Employee Arrested for Alleged Information Conspiracy

**Washington, D.C.** – Michael Charles Schena, a 42-year-old resident of Alexandria, Virginia, has been arrested on charges linked to an alleged conspiracy involving national defense information.

Court documents reveal Schena worked for the U.S. Department of State at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., holding a top secret security clearance. Starting around April 2022, he purportedly shared unauthorized information with individuals met online, receiving payments in return. On February 27, he supposedly used a cellphone to photograph documents labeled “SECRET” from his classified computer monitor and subsequently returned home, where his cellphone was confiscated.

Facing charges of conspiracy to gather, transmit, or lose national defense information, Schena could receive a prison sentence of up to 10 years. A federal district court judge will decide the sentence, taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office with support from the FBI Richmond Field Office and other agencies. The case is prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Ben’Ary and Gavin R. Tisdale, alongside Trial Attorney Maria Fedor from the National Security Division.

Former Navy Sailor Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy and Attempted Attack

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Former navy sailor pleads guilty to conspiracy and attempted attack - photo licensed by shore news network.

Former Navy Sailor Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy and Attempted Attack

**Chicago, IL** – In a significant development, former Navy sailor Xuanyu Harry Pang has pleaded guilty in a federal court in Chicago to plotting an attack on Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago, Illinois, on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The plea was entered on Tuesday in a U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and subsequently unsealed.

Court documents reveal that in the summer of 2021, Pang engaged with a person in Colombia about collaborating with Iranian actors to avenge the death of Qasem Soleimani, an IRGC Quds Force general killed by the U.S. military in 2020. The FBI, through a covert employee posing as a Quds Force affiliate, initiated contact with the Colombian individual, ultimately connecting with Pang.

The communications focused on potential targets, including Naval Station Great Lakes and other locations in Chicago. In fall 2022, Pang met with an FBI associate, providing photos, videos of the Naval Station, two U.S. military uniforms, and a cell phone intended for use as a detonator test.

Pang remains in custody without bond and awaits sentencing, facing a maximum