NEBRASKA
Officials announced Monday that a civilian U.S. Air Force employee working at the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) at Offutt Air Force Base was arrested on Saturday for supposedly sharing classified defense information (National Defense Information or NDI) on a foreign online dating site from around February 2022 to April 2022.
David Franklin Slater, 63, from Nebraska, who previously served as a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army, worked in a secure area at USSTRATCOM with a Top Secret clearance from around August 2021 to April 2022, according to authorities.
He is accused of intentionally sharing classified information marked as “SECRET” on a foreign dating site with someone who was not cleared to receive it, potentially harming the United States or benefiting another country.
If found guilty, he could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The FBI investigates those who choose to illegally use their access to classified information to put our national security at risk,” said Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel of the FBI Omaha Field Office. “When people violate the trust given to them to safeguard our nation’s intelligence, they put our country at risk. We will continue working shoulder to shoulder with our partners to protect the American people and uphold the constitution by safeguarding our country’s classified information.”
According to authorities, Slater participated in top-secret briefings about Russia’s conflict with Ukraine at the U.S. Strategic Command. He then shared information from these briefings with someone he met on an international dating site, who claimed to be a woman from Ukraine.
This person frequently asked Slater for sensitive, classified information and referred to him affectionately as her “secret informant love” and “secret agent.”
In response, Slater provided classified details, including information about military targets and Russian military capabilities regarding the invasion of Ukraine.
The FBI Omaha Field Office and Air Force Office of Special Investigations are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Kleine for the District of Nebraska and Trial Attorney Emma Dinan Ellenrieder of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.