Admiral Robert Burke rose to the highest rank possible in the 21st century US Navy: 4 stars. When Burke retired in 2022 after 39 years in the Navy, he was just 62. His base pay on retirement was about $187,000. His retirement pay would have been 87 percent of that. Not Elon Musk money, but Burke had the benefit of living a life of command that, as the Navy’s second-highest ranking officer, had other perks like significant housing stipends and other benefits. The DOJ alleges that, for Burke, it also meant a massive bribe in the form of private employment for procuring Navy contracts.
I can remove the “alleged.” On Wednesday, the 62-year-old former admiral learned that he will spend the next six years in a federal penitentiary.
A jury found Admiral Robert P. Burke (USN-Ret.) from Coconut Creek, Fla., guilty of conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, performing acts affecting a personal financial interest, and concealing material facts from the United States.
Burke will have to serve six years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. He will also have to pay $322,850 in restitution and $86,748.08 in forfeiture, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) for the District of Columbia.
“Integrity — not cash — is the currency of public service. Admiral Burke rose to the pinnacle of the U.S. Navy, entrusted with leadership and honor. But instead of leading by example, he cashed in that trust — turning four stars into dollar signs and trading duty for a corporate payday. Today’s sentence sends a clear message: if you sell your honor and trade your influence, you’ll pay the price — in prison time.”
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro
In 2021, shortly before Burke retired, and one year short of 40 years in “service,” he was setting up his civilian “retirement” plan. He was moving over to Jump Start in 2022 at a salary of $500,000 per year. Burke was attempting to influence other Navy personnel before he left the Navy. But it started to unravel. Jump Start’s employees were informed by the Navy Department that Jump Start needed to stop all communication with Burke. But Jump Start’s two “co-CEOs,” at the time, Meghan Messenger and Youngchul “Charlie” Kim, apparently continued to contact Burke. They assumed that they had Burke in their pocket. Burke, they thought, would be their conduit to landing future Navy contracts. The two met with Burke in July of 2021.