Former US Army Colonel Charged with Sharing Classified Information on Dating Website
A retired U.S. Army colonel in Nebraska has been charged with sharing classified information through an international dating portal. David Franklin Slater, 63, who worked at the US Strategic Command (Stratcom) until 2022, was arrested last Saturday, March 2.
Authorities stated that Slater illegally transmitted documents that could potentially harm the United States. The charging record reveals that he shared information from classified Stratcom briefings related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine with an individual he believed to be a woman in Ukraine. The recipient frequently asked for details about national defense secrets in their message exchanges.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, but the documents do not specify who Slater was communicating with or the name of the dating portal in question.
U.S. Attorney Susan Lehr for the District of Nebraska commented, “Certain responsibilities apply to people with access to top-secret information. The allegations against Slater lead us to question whether he betrayed those responsibilities.”
Slater faces one count of conspiracy and two counts of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information. If convicted, he could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison. It is currently uncertain whether he has hired legal representation.
The indictment comes shortly after another individual, Jack Teixeira, a U.S. airman with the Massachusetts Air National Guard, pleaded guilty to unlawfully retaining and transmitting national defense information. Teixeira could potentially face up to 16 years in prison.
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