A Chinese citizen pleaded guilty Wednessday for attempting to hack into American defense contractors’ computers and steal U.S. military secrets. Any data gleaned from this years-long conspiracy was to be delivered to China.

Su, better known as Stephen Su or Stephen Subin in the United States, is a businessman in the aerospace and aviation fields.

The Conspiracy

Su admitted that the conspiracy lasted from 2008-2016. While living in the Canada and conducting business with American defense contractors with his company Lode Technology, Su would email co-conspirators the names and companies they should target for their next hack.

Once they broke in, the conspirators would send a list of files to Su to learn which were worth taking. Su would respond and bingo, a new crop of U.S. military secrets would be translated into Chinese and sent to a foreign government.

The group also wrote up reports detailing what each piece of information meant and why it was valuable. Most of the data stolen related to aircraft like the C-17 military transport.

The Trial

Su was arrested in 2014 and was sent to the United States to await trial. He and his conspirators are the first Chinese hackers to be successfully caught and convicted of economic cyberespionage by the Justice department.

“Su Bin admitted to playing an important role in a conspiracy, originating in China, to illegally access sensitive military data,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin in a press release. “This plea sends a strong message that stealing from the United States and our companies has a significant cost; we can and will find these criminals and bring them to justice.”