(Image source from: foxnews.com)

A Chinese student was sentenced to a year in prison by the United States federal judge after he pleaded guilty to illegally taking pictures at a prohibited navy base in Florida, according to media reports on Thursday.

Zhao Qianli pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of photographing defence installations and given the maximum sentence, according to a CNN report.

According to court documents, on September 26, 2018, Zhao got into the Joint Interagency Task Force South military property, located on Naval Air Station Key West, without permission “by circumnavigating the installation’s primary fence line, and entering the military property from the beach”.

“The primary installation fence line contained multiple signs that stated the Farm area was a ‘Restricted Area’ and the ‘Keep Out’.”

Zhao was in the U.S. to study musicology as part of a summer exchange programme from North University of China.

-Sowmya Sangam