A retired army colonel allegedly sent classified Pentagon secrets to what he thought was a woman in Ukraine.
Court filings have alleged that David Franklin Slater sent messages through a foreign dating website to a person he believed was a woman in Ukraine who called him her "secret informant love."
The 63-year-old retired lieutenant colonel was working as a civilian for United States Strategic Command and is accused of illegally disclosing sensitive national defence information.
He was arrested on March 2 for conspiring to transmit and transmitting classified information beginning around February 2022 to April 2022.
The retired colonel was arrested earlier this month (stock pic)
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Assistant attorney general Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division said: "As alleged, Mr. Slater, an Air Force civilian employee and retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel, knowingly transmitted classified national defence information to another person in blatant disregard for the security of his country and his oath to safeguard its secrets.
"The Department of Justice will seek to hold accountable those who knowingly and willfully put their country at risk by disclosing classified information.”
US Attorney Susan Lehr for the District of Nebraska said: "Certain responsibilities are incumbent to individuals with access to Top Secret information. The allegations against Mr. Slater challenge whether he betrayed those responsibilities.
"We look forward to continuing our work with the FBI and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations to ensure the safety of our country."
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The 63-year-old retired lieutenant colonel is accused of sharing secrets (stock pic)
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According to the court documents, Slater, of Nebraska, attended US Strategic Command briefings regarding Russia’s war against Ukraine that were classified.
He then transmitted classified National Defence Information (NDI) that he learned from those briefings via the foreign online dating website’s messaging platform to his co-conspirator, who claimed to be a female living in Ukraine on the foreign dating website.
The co-conspirator regularly asked Slater to provide her with sensitive, non-public, closely held and classified NDI and called Slater in their messages her "secret informant love" and her "secret agent."
In response to these requests, Slater provided classified NDI to her, including regarding military targets and Russian military capabilities relating to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to the Office of Public Affairs if convicted, Slater faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count of conspiracy to transmit and the transmission of national defence information.
A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the US Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI Omaha Field Office and Air Force Office of Special Investigations are investigating the case.