Chinese nationals Liren Lai, 40, and Yuance Chen, 39, were sentenced on Friday to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release for acting as agents of China in the United States (US), according to the US Department of Justice.

According to the department’s release, the two operated under the direction and control of China’s Ministry of State Security in clandestine intelligence activities that included secret cash “dead-drop” payments in exchange for information related to US national security, gathering information about US military personnel and installations, and assisting efforts to recruit inside the US military. The two admitted trying to recruit US service members to spy for Beijing and pleaded guilty to acting as foreign agents without prior notification to the Attorney General, according to The Hindu, which reported they were arrested in California on Friday.