You are my secret informant love!
A 64-year-old retired Army lieutenant colonel was sentenced to nearly six years in prison last week for sharing military secrets about the war between Russia and Ukraine with a woman he met online.
The retired lieutenant colonel, David Franklin Slater, regularly communicated with the woman on an online dating site. The woman, who claimed to be from Ukraine, is identified only as “co-conspirator 1” in court records.
After his retirement, Slater worked as a private contractor for U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska and attended classified briefings following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Slater’s indictment quotes messages the woman sent him after the war began, giving something of the flavor of their relationship:
On or about March 7, “American Intelligence says that already 100% of Russian troops are located on the territory of Ukraine. Do you think this information can be trusted?”
On or about March 11, “Dear, what is shown on the screens in the special room?? It is very interesting.”
On or about March 15, “By the way, you were the first to tell me that NATO members are traveling by train and only now (already evening) this was announced on our news. You are my secret informant love! How were your meetings? Successfully?”
On or about March 18, “Beloved Dave, do NATO and Biden have a secret plan to help us?”
On or about March 23, “Dave, it’s great that you get information about [Specified Country 1] first. I hope you will tell me right away? You are my secret agent. With love.”
On or about April 12, “Sweet Dave, the supply of weapons is completely classified, which is great!”
On or about April 14, “My sweet Dave, thanks for the valuable information, it’s great that two officials from the USA are going to Kyiv.”
On or about April 19, “Dave, I hope tomorrow NATO will prepare a very unpleasant”surprise” for Putin! Will you tell me?”
On or about April 21, “You have a job in the Operations Center today, I remember, I’m sure there is a lot of interesting news there?”