VA - Lt. Commander Edward Lin charged with espionage & prostitution

A Taiwanese-born U.S. Navy officer charged with spying for China and Taiwan confessed to the crime, but his attorneys said his confession should not be admissible in court.

Lt. Cmdr. Edward C. Lin's attorneys said he was never read his rights and that the information in question is readily available on the Internet. Lin, a naval flight officer, faces two counts of espionage, three counts of attempted espionage and five counts of communicating defense information. According to charging documents, Lin, 39, met five times with an undercover Mandarin-speaking FBI agent, allegedly giving classified information. It is not clear what information he allegedly provided. Lin, who is married, also faces adultery charges and charges related to soliciting a prostitute.

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A Navy officer who pleaded guilty to mishandling classified information and not reporting foreign contacts will serve 6 years of confinement and will be dismissed from the Navy, a military judge ruled in a Friday sentencing hearing.

Lt. Cmdr. Edward Lin, 40, was sentenced to a nine-year sentence with the last three years suspended as part of a pre-trial agreement with the government. Along with a 646-day credit for time served in pre-trial confinement, Lin could be released from the brig in about four years.

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“While this case didn’t turn out to be related to foreign intelligence — not really a ‘spy’ case — the sentence sends a strong message to the force about taking care to safeguard classified and sensitive information,” Rob “Butch” Bracknell, a former Marine and military lawyer, told USNI News on Friday.

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Lin then talked about his sister, Jenny, who he says received death threats after he was charged.

“I wasn’t able to protect her and I put her in that position,” Lin added. “I don’t know what I can say to her for how sorry I am. I feel ashamed.”

Lin then moved on to talk about serving the United States.

“No words can express my sadness,” Lin said. “I’m physically ill when I think what could have happened. The thought I put them [sailors] in harm makes me sick.”

In 2013, Lin told Navy officials he was taking leave to head back home to Alexandria, Virginia, when he actually traveled to Taiwan to visit family. Lin said he again claimed Alexandria as his leave destination in 2015 — when he was actually to go to China to see a girl he met online.

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