Ex-Army Colonel at Macdill Shared Classified Battle Plans to Woo Woman

For almost four decades, Kevin Charles Luke lived a life of service and sacrifice to the United States.

A retired Army combat veteran who worked as a high-level civilian contractor at Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base, Luke was long entrusted with some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets.

But it was an ill-conceived effort to impress a woman that precipitated the former colonel’s remarkable downfall.

On Tuesday, a federal judge sentenced Luke to two years in prison for sharing classified battle plans with a woman he was dating.

Luke, 62, stood in a Tampa courtroom weeping as he addressed U.S. District Judge James Moody.

“I stand before you accepting full responsibility for my actions,” he said. “What I did was wrong. I violated the trust placed in me and, sir, I am ashamed of that.”

The sentence was less than the three to four years suggested by federal guidelines. After prison, Moody ordered Luke to spend a year on probationary supervision and to undergo a mental health evaluation.

The judge noted the challenge of balancing the totality of Luke’s life, including his decorated service, with the seriousness of his crime.

“This is a difficult sentencing,” Moody said.

Luke pleaded guilty in November to a charge of unauthorized communication of information relating to the national defense.

He spent 37 years in the Army before he retired in 2018 with the rank of colonel. Thereafter, he continued to work as a civilian military contractor. He retained a “top secret” security clearance.

He worked at Central Command in Tampa, the headquarters for U.S. military operations in the Middle East.

In October 2024, Luke met a woman online, who was not in the military, according to court records. He began talking with her by email. On Oct. 1, he sent her a text message with an accompanying photo through his personal cell phone.

“Sent to my boss earlier,” he wrote. “Gives you a peek at what I do for a living.”

The photo showed a computer screen displaying a classified email message, according to court records. The message discussed what was described as a “then-future U.S. military operation.” It included details about the date of the operation, the number of targets and battle plans.

Authored by Luke, the message bore markings that read “SECRET//REL TO USA, FVEY.” That meant the email’s contents could only be seen by authorized personnel in what’s known as the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance, which includes the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

A plea agreement, signed by Luke and federal prosecutors last September, does not identify the operation. But Luke sent the photo days before Central Command launched a series of airstrikes in Yemen, directed at the Houthi movement, an Islamic fundamentalist military force.

The strikes were part of a broader campaign known as Operation Poseidon Archer, which was a response to the group’s attacks on ships in the Red Sea. The U.S. drew support in the operation from several allied nations, including those in the Five Eyes alliance.

The agreement states that there is no evidence that Luke’s disclosure of the email was treasonous or that he received any financial or other benefit from a foreign entity.

Court records instead indicated that he merely was trying to impress the woman “without considering the larger ramifications.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Schmidt argued in a sentencing memo that Luke’s courtship of the unnamed woman jeopardized the nation’s secrets and endangered the lives of his fellow service members and citizens.

“The United States placed exceptional trust in Luke for a very long time,” Schmidt wrote. “Luke betrayed that trust.”

In court Tuesday, it was revealed that the woman disclosed to authorities what Luke shared with her after they broke up.

“This was, unfortunately, a tale as old as time,” said defense attorney Mark O’Brien. “A man trying to impress a woman. The man ended the relationship. The woman later went to the government and told on him.”

About two months after Luke sent the woman the message, federal agents executed a search warrant at his home.

Inside, they found more classified documents, including four emails and a spiral notebook that bore a sticker reading “secret.” Luke was not authorized to keep the documents at home, prosecutors said, and it is unknown if anyone else may have seen them.

As O’Brien sought a sentence to spare Luke prison time, he compared the case to that of retired General David Petraeus, whose sharing of classified information with his biographer came to light via a Tampa-borne scandal.

In 2015, Petraeus admitted to a misdemeanor charge that he unlawfully retained classified info, which prosecutors said he allowed his biographer to access. Petraeus received probation.

Schmidt, the prosecutor, argued that Petraeus’ case was not comparable; she asserted that the general only retained classified information while Luke transmitted it to someone else.

She cited several other cases from recent years in which former military and intelligence officials were sent to prison for disclosing classified information.

The cases included that of Robert Birchum, a former MacDill airman who in 2023 admitted that he kept hundreds of classified documents in his Tampa home. Birchum got three years in prison.

In court Tuesday, O’Brien emphasized Luke’s 37 years of service, which included a combat deployment during the most volatile period of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was injured in a bomb blast during counterinsurgency operations.

Years later, he was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. He was married and divorced three times. He’s grappled with other health problems.

Despite Luke’s struggles, his attorney described him as a loving father, well-educated and a devout Christian.

A stack of letters from his family, friends and former military colleagues attested to a man who was said to be trustworthy and professional.

Steven Hirschkowitz, a fellow retired colonel, told the judge Luke is a man of “unquestionable loyalty,” “the highest character,” and a “pillar of strength.” His crime was “a singular lapse in judgment in an otherwise spotless career.”

Raj Ambay, a medical doctor who served in combat alongside Luke, credited him with saving many lives.

“If I were to trust my life in someone’s hands, it would be that man right there,” Ambay said, gesturing to a defense table.

Luke’s misconduct had left him “shredded inside,” the doctor said. He opined that the crime shouldn’t overshadow his service to others.

“Yes, he had a lapse in judgment,” Ambay said. “But I know I’ve seen bigger lapses in the news and everywhere else.”

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