US Journalist Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Acting as Chinese Agent

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—An American who worked with Chinese intelligence for years and worked for Chinese state media agencies has been sentenced to two years in prison for acting as a Chinese agent.

Thomas Pauken II, who pleaded guilty in June, took in $100,000 over seven years from his Chinese handler to write reports that the intelligence officer said would go directly to Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The 51-year-old was arrested in February, days after trying to recruit a Trump administration official for his handler.

In the sentencing hearing on Sept. 1, U.S. prosecutor Eli Ross described the case as “emblematic” of Chinese espionage.

He said that Pauken had acted out of a “conscious decision” even though he “knew what was right.” He noted Chinese news articles under Pauken’s name and the deletion of communication records to evade U.S. detection.

Despite a 2025 FBI warning, Ross said, Pauken had continued working for Chinese authorities and offered a $10,000 bonus to cultivate his source for Beijing.

“He did it for money; he did it for prestige,” Ross said. “He chose this path, and he got caught.”

Pauken, in a dark green jail uniform, said he wasn’t disputing the facts.

During these months of solitary confinement, he said, he spent every day thinking about the damage he had done to his country.

“I learned a lot of secrets, and I did tell the Chinese about these secrets,” Pauken said.

Pauken moved to China in about 2010 and has since worked for multiple major Chinese state media agencies, including dominant broadcaster China Central Television and its overseas division, CGTN. Court records show that he has made six trips to the United States since 2019, staying for days to weeks at a time.

Prosecutors said he traveled specifically to recruit individuals to provide information for the Chinese authorities. His primary handler—identified as “Cathy”—usually wired about $7,000 to $8,000 to cover each trip, according to court filings.

Pauken compiled reports and recorded interviews based on Cathy’s questions. Some, directed at the unnamed individual now working at a federal agency, focused on the thinking of the presidential administration. He would send the information to Cathy, then delete the messages once she confirmed receipt.

The Justice Department said Pauken sold reports to a group of individuals from the Chinese city of Wuhan, who looked for information about technology and the department and wanted Pauken to help them conduct cyberespionage. He also engaged in work with two other China-based individuals, “Richard” and “William.” The two claimed that the information was going to Japan, but Pauken believed they worked for the Chinese state.

Pauken’s attorney, Charles Burnham, said his client wasn’t motivated by money.

After a difficult childhood, Pauken “needed a clean slate,” and “China gave him that,” he told Judge Leonie Brinkema.

Pauken, he said, believed in improving U.S.–China relations, and the Chinese intelligence officers exploited that.

Burnham argued that $100,000 over a seven-year period was “not life-changing.”

The judge disagreed, saying that “$100,000 goes pretty far in China.”

Prosecutors had pushed for a 36-month sentence. In court documents, they said Pauken and his wife purchased two apartments for a combined total of $400,000 in 2023 and once took a Beijing-sponsored family vacation.

Pauken choked up when recalling his wife and son, both in China. In June, his wife’s U.S. visa extension was rejected, he said.

“I’m very sorry for everything,” he said.

Brinkema acknowledged the “very unfortunate” situation.

Often, the real victims are not those behind bars but their family members, the judge said.

“It’s a sad reality of the justice system,” she said.

Pauken will undergo three years of supervised release following imprisonment. The judge forbade him from traveling overseas during the period.

“Mr. Pauken has accepted responsibility and respects the court’s sentence. As the government agreed in court today, Mr. Pauken did not provide any classified information to the Chinese,” Burnham told The Epoch Times in a statement.

Pauken’s father, Thomas Pauken, was present at the hearing. He led a federal task force managing domestic volunteer programs during the Reagan administration and later chaired the Texas Republican Party.

The elder Pauken declined to comment upon walking out of the courtroom.