A federal judge has sentenced retired U.S. Army Colonel Kevin Charles Luke to two years in federal prison for transmitting classified national defense information via text message to a woman
Luke, 62, pleaded guilty in October 2025 to one count of unauthorized communication of information relating to national defense, after nearly four decades of military service and retirement in 2018, according to the Daily Caller. A Department of Justice (DOJ) press release from November 2025 detailed his long career and subsequent misconduct involving sensitive material.
Prosecutors said Luke used a government email address intended for classified email communications to access a restricted message in October 2024, then photographed the classified email and sent the image to an unidentified woman. The photograph revealed targets of a planned U.S. military operation, as well as the future date and goal of the operation, according to the DOJ.
The unauthorized release of the information contained within the photograph could be expected to cause serious damage to the national security of the United States, the DOJ press release stated. Such conduct undercuts the strict safeguards conservatives have long argued are essential to protecting U.S. forces and interests abroad.
Following his retirement from active duty, Luke was hired at United States Central Command (CENTCOM) as a civilian employee, where he held a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information clearance. The DOJ noted Wednesday that Luke acknowledged his responsibility to protect classified information by signing a Standard Form 312 Nondisclosure Agreement multiple times, including as recently as February 2019.
CENTCOM, a unified combatant command of the Department of War, oversees U.S. military operations in 21 nations across North Africa, the Middle East and Asia, including Israel, Iran and Afghanistan. CENTCOMs own website concedes the region is among the least secure and stable places of the world, underscoring why many on the right view any breach of operational secrecy as a grave and unforgivable failure.
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