A retired U.S. Military officer from Tampa has been sentenced to 2 years in federal jail for disclosing categorized nationwide protection info, federal prosecutors introduced.
Kevin Charles Luke, 62, was sentenced by U.S. District Choose James Moody Jr. to 24 months behind bars after pleading responsible on Oct. 7, 2025, to unlawfully sharing categorized materials. Prosecutors stated Luke admitted in a plea settlement that he abused a place of public belief.
Based on courtroom information, Luke served on energetic responsibility and within the U.S. Military Reserve from 1981 till retiring as a colonel in June 2018. After leaving navy service, he labored as a civilian worker at U.S. Central Command and held a High Secret/Delicate Compartmented Data clearance. Officers stated he repeatedly acknowledged his responsibility to safeguard categorized info, together with signing a Customary Type 312 nondisclosure settlement as just lately as February 2019.
Investigators decided that in October 2024, Luke despatched a lady a textual content message from his private cellphone referencing info he had offered to his supervisor. He then transmitted {a photograph} of a pc display displaying a categorized e-mail he authored utilizing a authorities system supposed for safe communications. The picture revealed particulars of a deliberate U.S. navy operation, together with targets, timing, execution strategies, and operational targets. Authorities stated the fabric was marked on the Secret stage and that its unauthorized disclosure may fairly be anticipated to trigger severe injury to U.S. nationwide safety.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Military Workplace of Particular Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Legal professional Lindsey Schmidt and Trial Legal professional Leslie Esbrook of the Justice Division’s Nationwide Safety Division Counterintelligence and Export Management Part.
U.S. Legal professional Gregory W. Kehoe introduced the sentence following the courtroom’s ruling.
