U.S. sailor pleads guilty as would-be China spy

NORFOLK, Va. - A U.S. Navy sailor has pleaded guilty to attempted espionage for trying to sell classified documents to someone he believed was a Chinese intelligence officer.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Bryan Minkyu Martin of Mexico, N.Y., faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

At a court martial in Norfolk, Va., on Thursday, Martin said he accepted more than $11,000 from an undercover FBI agent in exchange for documents, photographs and images that were classified as secret or top secret.

Martin is an intelligence specialist who was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina at the time, preparing for a deployment to Afghanistan.

Martin also pleaded not guilty to four of 11 charges levied against him for mishandling classified documents.