In a stunning verdict, a retired four-star admiral who once held the Navy’s second-highest post has been convicted of bribery and other federal crimes, marking the most senior military officer ever found guilty of such offenses while still in uniform.
Robert P. Burke, 62, a former vice chief of naval operations, was convicted Monday after a five-day trial on charges of steering a $355,000 Navy contract to a private firm in exchange for a guaranteed $500,000-a-year job once he left the service. The Department of Justice said Burke abused his power to personally profit and then tried to hide it from Navy officials.
“When you abuse your position and betray the public trust to line your own pockets, it undermines the confidence in the government you represent,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. “Our office, with our law enforcement partners, will root out corruption — be it bribes or illegal contracts — and hold accountable the perpetrators, no matter what title or rank they hold.”
Burke retired in 2022 after a long career, having served in high-profile roles including chief of naval personnel and commander of U.S. naval forces in Europe, Russia, and most of Africa. But prosecutors say that as early as 2020, while still in uniform, Burke began conspiring with Yongchul “Charlie” Kim and Meghan Messenger, co-CEOs of a New York-based training company called Next Jump, to secure future employment by helping them win government contracts.
“Burke wants to work for us, but we’re asking for a deal first,” Kim allegedly said in a 2021 WhatsApp message, according to the indictment. In the same conversation, Messenger reportedly said the whole thing “felt slimy.”
Despite prior rejections from Navy leadership and clear warnings not to contact him, Kim and Messenger allegedly met with Burke in Washington, D.C. in July 2021. There, the three discussed getting the company a federal contract, with Burke promising to push for it. In exchange, they offered him a future position with a base salary of $500,000, plus 100,000 stock options — to begin after his Navy retirement.
In December 2021, Burke ordered his staff to award a $355,000 contract to Next Jump to train personnel in Italy and Spain. He also unsuccessfully pushed for a second contract. Prosecutors say he concealed these efforts from the Navy while continuing to lobby for the company internally.
Burke’s lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, called the verdict disappointing and claimed the trial was unfair. “This is a result of the fact that the jury did not get to hear the whole story,” he told Fox News Digital. He criticized the lead investigator, linking him to previous missteps in the Navy’s most infamous corruption case — the “Fat Leonard” scandal — where high-ranking officers took bribes of cash, prostitutes, and luxury trips from a defense contractor.
“They didn’t do any research and so you have an incompetent and unethical, corrupt investigator relying upon the word of a known liar,” Parlatore said. “Ultimately, the only way that they could bring it to a conviction was to only present certain evidence to the jury.”
The jury didn’t agree. Burke was convicted of bribery, acts affecting a personal financial interest, and concealment of material facts. He now faces up to 30 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for August — the same month Kim and Messenger will go to trial in the related case.
This conviction adds to a growing list of scandals that have plagued the Navy’s top brass. The “Fat Leonard” case alone led to the downfall of numerous officers, with Leonard Francis sentenced in 2024 after fleeing house arrest and being recaptured in Venezuela.
Burke’s case, however, stands apart. It’s the first time a four-star admiral — while still serving — has been convicted of a federal crime for exploiting his rank to line his pockets.