Retired Colonel Sentenced for Leaking War Plans

A decorated Army officer’s decades of service came to a dramatic close with a prison term after he admitted to sending classified military details to someone he met on the internet.

Kevin Charles Luke, 62, received a two-year federal sentence in Florida after pleading guilty in October to illegally sharing national defense information, prosecutors announced Wednesday. Luke spent nearly 40 years serving in both active-duty and reserve assignments before retiring as a colonel in 2018. After leaving the military, he worked as a civilian employee for the United States Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, holding a top-secret security clearance, according to CBS News.

Authorities said Luke had signed a nondisclosure agreement in 2019 but, in October 2024, used his personal cellphone to send a woman a photograph of a classified email from his government account. In a message accompanying the image, he allegedly wrote that it had been sent to his supervisor and offered a glimpse into his work. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the image exposed sensitive details, including intended targets, timing, methods, and objectives of a forthcoming U.S. military mission.

While officials did not identify the specific operation, the message was transmitted just days before Central Command carried out airstrikes in Yemen, according to New York Post.

Prosecutors emphasized that releasing the information in the photo could have caused serious harm to U.S. national security. The woman later alerted authorities roughly two months after their relationship ended, the Post reported.

During a court hearing Tuesday, defense attorney Mark O’Brien characterized the case as a misguided attempt to impress someone. He said Luke ended the relationship, and the woman subsequently reported him to federal officials.

Although sentencing guidelines recommended three to four years in prison, Luke received a shorter term. At the hearing, retired Army colonel Steven Hirschkowitz described Luke as deeply loyal and called the offense an isolated mistake in an otherwise exemplary career, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Luke, who previously suffered a traumatic brain injury from a bombing in Iraq, became emotional while addressing U.S. District Judge James Moody. He told the court he accepted responsibility, acknowledged betraying the trust placed in him, and expressed shame for his actions.

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