An American expat who spent years living in China faces up to a decade behind bars after admitting in federal court today that he was secretly working as an operative for Beijing.
Thomas Weir Pauken II, 50, pleaded guilty to operating as an unregistered foreign agent within the United States. Court records show that between 2019 and February 2026, Pauken actively infiltrated U.S. political and tech circles under the direct control of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS).
Federal prosecutors revealed that Pauken’s handlers paid him at least $100,000 for his services. The money funded multiple trips from China back to the U.S. so Pauken could track down and recruit targets who could supply sensitive government data.
According to court filings, Pauken’s primary handler was a Chinese intelligence officer known simply as “Cathy,” whom he met in 2017. Pauken acted as the middleman for Cathy, meeting with potential assets in America, equipping them with encrypted laptops and cell phones, giving them intelligence-gathering assignments, and routing their reports back to Beijing.
Assistant Attorney General John A. Eisenberg stated that Pauken was part of a broader conspiracy to extract sensitive data from the U.S. government, calling the operation a direct threat to national security.
The FBI’s investigation also uncovered that Pauken juggled multiple intelligence assignments. He wrote reports for two other Chinese handlers, known as “Richard” and “William,” who falsely claimed the documents were headed to Japan. Additionally, Pauken sold specialized reports to a group of buyers in Wuhan who were looking for information on American technology and the U.S. Department of Justice. The Wuhan group specifically tasked Pauken with finding a cyberespionage expert to help them pull off digital hacks.
“By his own admission, not only did Thomas Pauken attempt to infiltrate U.S. political circles at the direction of China’s Ministry of State Security, but he gathered intelligence on his American targets and reported it back to his Chinese intelligence handlers,” said Roman Rozhavsky, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. Rozhavsky added that the plea should serve as a warning that the FBI will track down anyone operating as an unregistered agent for a foreign adversary.
Pauken is scheduled for sentencing on September 1. He faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison, with a district court judge determining the final sentence based on federal guidelines. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Philadelphia and Washington field offices, and is being prosecuted by the National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
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