SCHOOL THESIS

E. BRYAN UNDERWOOD
A former U.S. Marine, Bryan Underwood, attempted to pass classified national
security information to China while working as a contract security guard at a U.S.
consulate under construction in China. 267 Arraigned in September 2011, Underwood was
sentenced for a period of nine years 268 in August 2012 of attempting to communicate
national defense information to a foreign government. 269 That information would have
given China undetected access to the consulate, to include the secure areas, by providing
photographs of the construction, a list of security upgrades, and locations of surveillance
security cameras. He never got to put on paper his mental plan of where listening devices
could be installed. 270
1. Financial Concerns
In March 2011, Underwood became panicked about his financial situation when
his stock brokerage account fell from $68,813 to negative $89,624 in two months. 271 It
was then that Regan tried to contact the Chinese Ministry of State Security to offer the
classified photographs, information, and access to U.S. facilities for $3 million to $5
million. 272
2. Childhood Upbringing
At sentencing, the judge cited Underwood’s mental problems and troubled
childhood as reasons for giving him a more lenient sentence. Underwood himself said he
267 “U.S. Consulate Guard Admits to Selling Secrets to China,” The Irish Times Limited, August 31,
2012, 12.
268 Lawrence Hurley, “Bryan Underwood, Ex-Security Guard at U.S. Consulate in China, Sentenced
to 9 Years for ‘Half-Baked Treason,’” The World Post, March 5, 2013,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/05/bryan-underwood-attempted-treasonsentence_n_2812274.html
269 Federal Bureau of Investigation Washington Field Office, “Former U.S. Consulate Guard
Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison for Attempting to Communicate National Defense Information to
China,” March 5, 2013, http://www.fbi.gov/washingtondc/press-releases/2013/former-u.s.-consulate-guardsentenced-to-nine-years-in-prison-for-attempting-to-communicate-national-defense-information-to-china
270 Ibid.
271 Serrano, “Private’s Trial, Government’s Test,” A.11.
272 “U.S. Consulate Guard Admits to Selling Secrets to China,” The Irish Times Limited, 12.
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