A former U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel turned civilian Air Force employee, David Franklin Slater, has pleaded guilty to a serious national security offense. Slater admitted in federal court that he took part in a conspiracy to share classified U.S. military information via a foreign online dating site. The case involves information connected to the war in Ukraine and Russian military operations.
Slater, 64, worked at the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, where he held a Top Secret security clearance. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, from around February 2022 to April 2022, Slater communicated with a person he believed was a Ukrainian woman on a foreign dating website. He sent her secret information using the platform’s messaging system.
The shared details included sensitive data on military targets and Russian military strategies—details Slater learned during classified briefings at USSTRATCOM. These briefings were classified up to the TOP SECRET//SENSITIVE COMPARTMENTED INFORMATION (TS//SCI) level.
The investigation revealed that Slater had direct access to some of the nation’s most sensitive and closely guarded military secrets. Despite decades of military service and experience, he chose to exchange messages with a person he had never met, violating national security protocols.
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In messages, the online contact often referred to Slater as her “secret informant love” and “secret agent.” Prosecutors say the person repeatedly asked Slater to share non-public and classified details. Slater willingly provided information he knew was restricted.
Court documents show that Slater had attended classified briefings involving Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and then shared information from those sessions. Officials say he knew this data could harm the United States or assist a foreign power, but he still went ahead and shared it.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said the defendant, a U.S. Air Force employee with access to some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets, shared classified information with an individual who claimed to be a foreign national on an online dating site.
U.S. Attorney Lesley A. Woods for the District of Nebraska stated that David Slater neglected his duty to safeguard classified information by knowingly sharing National Defense details with an unidentified online contact, despite his extensive military background.
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Federal Authorities Take Swift Action
The case was investigated by the FBI Omaha Field Office and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. They gathered evidence showing that Slater had knowingly conspired to transmit National Defense Information (NDI) classified as “SECRET.”
Eugene Kowel, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Omaha Field Office, said, “Mr. Slater betrayed an oath he made to safeguard our nation’s intelligence. He chose to transmit material that put our country at risk.”
Slater was charged with conspiracy to transmit national defense information, a felony under U.S. law. The charge is punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
The prosecution is being led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Kleine and Trial Attorney Emma Dinan Ellenrieder from the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
Slater is scheduled to be sentenced on October 8, where a federal judge will determine the exact penalty based on sentencing guidelines and other legal factors. Until then, he remains accountable for a breach that shocked national security officials and demonstrated the dangers of unauthorized disclosures—especially in the digital age.