The retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel accused of spilling American military secrets about the Ukraine war on a dating site was referred to by his online lover as "her secret informant love", according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
David Franklin Slater, 63, of Nebraska, was arrested on Saturday, March 2, HNGN previously reported. Slater is currently a civilian employee of the U.S. Air Force working in a classified area for the U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base.
Prosecutors allege he transmitted classified information between February and April 2022.
They say he sent top secret materials he had reason to believe could be used by a foreign nation against the United States.
According to the charging documents, Slater attended briefings regarding Russia's war against Ukraine that were classified up to TOP SECRET. Slater then allegedly sent information he learned from those briefings via the foreign online dating site's messaging platform to an unnamed co-conspirator.
That person claimed to be a woman who was living in Ukraine. She regularly asked Slater to provide her with sensitive, non-public, closely held and classified information.
Prosecutors claim she called Slater her "secret informant love" and her "secret agent."
He allegedly shared information about military targets and Russian military capabilities.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said Slater showed a "blatant disregard for the security of his country and his oath to safeguard its secrets."
"The Department of Justice will seek to hold accountable those who knowingly and willfully put their country at risk by disclosing classified information," Olsen added in a news release.
Slater was due in court on Tuesday in Nebraska.
If convicted, Slater faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count of conspiracy to transmit and the transmission of national defense information.
