A former Military Colonel from Florida was sentenced to 2 years in jail Tuesday for attempting to woo a girl he met on-line by sending her secret labeled battle plans.
Retired fight vet Kevin Charles Luke, 62, was working as a high-level civilian contractor with “high secret” clearance at US army headquarters in Tampa in October 2024, when he texted a photograph of plans for a Center East assault to his new fling, in accordance with courtroom paperwork.
“Despatched to my boss earlier,” he wrote within the textual content, which included a photograph of an e mail on his work laptop at Central Command at MacDill Air Pressure Base. “Provides you a peek at what I do for a dwelling.”
The picture confirmed a labeled e mail message with particulars in regards to the date of the operation, the variety of targets and battle plans, courtroom papers state.
The confidential e mail was labeled “SECRET//REL TO USA, FVEY” — which means it was solely meant to be seen by approved personnel within the so-called “5 Eyes” intelligence alliance, which incorporates the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Roughly two months later, Luke — a embellished officer who spent 37 years within the Military earlier than retiring 2018 — broke up with the unidentified girl.
She then reported him to authorities, prompting federal brokers to look his house, in accordance with his protection legal professional Mark O’Brien.
Luke later pleaded responsible to unauthorized communication of labeled army strike plans, however insisted he despatched the textual content merely to impress the girl, not as an act of treason or for monetary achieve.
It wasn’t clear which assault his e mail referenced — but it surely was despatched days earlier than the Central Command headquarters launched airstrikes in Yemen, directed at Houthis, an Islamic fundamentalist army power.
“[His] betrayal of the nation’s secrets and techniques—which disclosed a then-future army operation and put service members in danger—is deeply troubling,” US District Decide James Moody stated in his sentencing memo.
On Tuesday, Luke wept in courtroom as he addressed the decide.
“I stand earlier than you accepting full duty for my actions,” he stated, in accordance with the Tampa Bay Occasions. “What I did was unsuitable. I violated the belief positioned in me and, sir, I’m ashamed of that.”
Prosecutors had requested he get 4 years behind bars, however Moody finally sentenced him to 2, noting he balanced the seriousness of his crime along with his years of army service.
“This can be a troublesome sentencing,” Moody stated.
With good conduct, Luke may find yourself serving 15 months or much less, O’Brien informed The Submit.
“In a second of dangerous judgment, he despatched a textual content photograph of his work to a girl he was seeing. There isn’t a excuse for this. It was a split-second choice designed to impress a girl that solely got here to gentle months later, after he ended his relationship with the girl,” O’Brien stated. “He regrets his actions deeply.”
