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3w ago

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Pleads Guilty to Transmitting Ukraine War Secrets via Dating App

He will be sentenced on Oct. 8 after prosecutors recommended a nearly six-year prison term at the low end of an agreed range.

FILE - U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper holds a Q&A session during a visit to the U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt AFB, Neb., Feb. 20, 2020. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, file)
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Overview

  • David Slater, 64, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to transmit classified national defense information and had two other charges dropped under his plea agreement.
  • He admitted sharing secret details of Russian military targets and capabilities from USSTRATCOM briefings through messages on a foreign online dating platform.
  • Slater held top-secret clearance and worked in a classified facility at Offutt Air Force Base from August 2021 to April 2022, attending high-level Russia-Ukraine war briefings.
  • The case underscores evolving digital vulnerabilities in military security and has prompted federal agencies to tighten insider clearance and communication protocols.
  • U.S. District Judge Brian Buescher must still formally accept the plea and impose Slater’s final sentence at the Oct. 8 hearing.