* Retired Army Colonel with top secret clearance sent classified Middle East strike plans via text to a woman he met online in October 2024.
* After their breakup roughly two months later, the unidentified woman reported the incident to authorities.
* Luke pleaded guilty to unauthorized disclosure of national defense information.
Retired US Army Colonel Kevin Charles Luke, a 37-year combat veteran turned high-level civilian contractor, has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for leaking secret battle plans in a misguided attempt to impress a romantic interest he met online.
The saga began in October 2024 at MacDill Air Force Base, where Luke held top secret clearance while working at US Central Command.
Eager to dazzle his new online connection, he photographed a classified email on his secure work computer and texted it to her.
The message read: 'Sent to my boss earlier. Gives you a peek at what I do for a living.'
The photo captured sensitive details, including the operation date, number of targets, and battle plans for a then-future US military strike.
Marked 'SECRET//REL TO USA, FVEY,' the document was restricted to authorized personnel in the Five Eyes alliance comprising the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
The leak occurred just days before CENTCOM airstrikes targeted Houthi forces in Yemen.
The relationship soured, and about two months later, Luke ended things.
Heartbroken or vengeful, the woman turned him in to authorities.
Federal agents raided his Parrish home, uncovering the breach.
Defense attorney Mark O’Brien explained, “In a moment of bad judgment, he sent a text photo of his work to a woman he was seeing. There is no excuse for this. It was a split-second decision designed to impress a woman that only came to light months later, after he ended his relationship with the woman. He regrets his actions deeply.”
Luke pleaded guilty to unauthorized communication of classified military strike plans, insisting it was never treason or for profit, just a foolish bid for affection.
US District Judge James Moody called the act “deeply troubling,” stating in his sentencing memo', '[His] betrayal of the nation’s secrets—which disclosed a then-future military operation and put service members at risk—is deeply troubling.'
In a tearful courtroom address reported by the Tampa Bay Times, Luke said' “I stand before you accepting full responsibility for my actions. What I did was wrong. I violated the trust placed in me and, sir, I am ashamed of that.”
Judge Moody described the decision as difficult, balancing Luke's decades of honorable service against the gravity of endangering lives.
He imposed 24 months — half the prosecutors' request — allowing for possible early release after 15 months with good behavior.
O’Brien said the sentence reflected those mitigating factors.
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