Ex-Navy sailor admits to planning an attack on Great Lakes Naval Station

In NORTH CHICAGO, Ill., a former Navy sailor has admitted in federal court to a scheme to attack the Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago. This information was disclosed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.

Xuanyu Harry Pang, a 38-year-old resident of North Chicago, has pleaded guilty to charges of participating in a conspiracy to willfully damage and destroy national defense material, as well as national defense premises and utilities. The aim was to impede, interfere with, and hinder the national defense operations of the United States, as reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

The guilty plea was entered on November 5, 2024 and unsealed Thursday.

Pang is currently in custody without the option of posting bail and is set to receive sentencing on May 27, 2025. This offense carries a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment in a federal penitentiary.

According to court records in the summer of 2021, Pang communicated with an individual in Colombia about assisting Iranian actors to conduct an attack in the U.S. to avenge the death of Qasem Soleimani, a general of the IRGC Quds Force who was killed by the U.S. military in 2020.

An FBI agent posing as an affiliate of the Quds Force communicated with the individual in Colombia online who put the covert agent into contact with Pang, who was station at Naval Station Great Lakes, court records show.

Pang and the covert agent then communicate d through encrypted messages about possible targets for attack, including Naval Station Great Lakes, court records show.

Pang personally met with an undercover FBI agent three times in the fall of 2022, with Pang displaying photos and videos on hos phone from inside the Naval Station at one of the meetings.