Chinese National Sentenced to Prison for Illegal Photography of U.S. Naval Installation in Key West, Florida

A People’s Republic of China (PRC) foreign national was sentenced to prison today for illegal photography of the U.S. Naval Air Station Key West, Joint Interagency Task Force, South (JIATF-South).

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office made the announcement. 

Zhao Qianli, 21, of Shanxi, PRC was sentenced today to the statutory maximum term of 12 months in prison, to be followed by 1 year of supervised release, by Chief U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore, after previously pleading guilty to one count of photographing defense installations (Case No. 18-10035-CR).

According to the court record, in September 2018, Zhao Qianli was apprehended after illegally entering JIATF-South.  At the time of his arrest, Zhao Qianli was observed taking photographs of JIATF-South and associated military hardware.  A search warrant of Zhao Qianli’s cellular telephone and digital camera revealed multiple photographs and video footage of the Key West military installation. 

U.S. Attorney Fajardo Orshan commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and the South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael R. Sherwin.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov