Retired four-star Navy admiral found guilty of bribery after accepting job for awarding contract

A federal jury has found retired four-star Navy Adm. Robert Burke guilty of bribery for awarding a tech firm a government contract in exchange for a job after retiring.

Burke, 62, was found guilty by a federal jury on Monday after a five-day trial on charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, performing acts affecting a personal financial interest, and concealing material facts from the United States. His sentencing hearing is on Aug. 22.

The retired admiral, who was the Navy vice chief of naval operations from June 2019 to June 2020, is the most senior member in U.S. military history to be found guilty of committing a federal crime while on active-duty service, The Hill news outlet reported.

Burke, of Coconut Creek, Fla., was charged with federal crimes by a grand jury in May 2024, along with the co-CEOs of the technology services firm, Next Jump, which he joined after retiring from the military, according a Justice Department announcement on the jury's decision. 

Co-CEOs Yongchul “Charlie” Kim and Meghan Messenger, both of New York, are the two co-defendants. They will be on trial in August.

Kim and Messenger provided a workforce training pilot program to a small component of the Navy from August 2018 through July 2019. Burke was chief of naval personnel from 2016 to June 2019. The Navy terminated a contract with Next Jump in late 2019 and directed it not to contact Burke.

The two co-defendants met with Burke in Washington, D.C., in summer 2021, when he was in command of U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa and Allied Joint Forces Command, to reestablish Next Jump's business relationship with the Navy. 

Kim and Messenger agreed at the meeting that Burke would use his position to steer a contract to Next Jump in exchange for a future job at the company. They also agreed that he would influence other naval officers to award another contract to Next Jump to train a large portion of the Navy.

Burke ordered his staff in Dec. 2021 to award a $355,000 contract to Next Jump to train personnel under his command in Italy and Spain, which the company performed in Jan. 2022.

In Oct. 2022, after retiring in the summer, Burke began working at Next Jump at an annual starting salary of $500,000 and a grant of 100,000 stock options. 

“When you abuse your position and betray the public trust to line your own pockets, it undermines the confidence in the government you represent,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro for the District of Columbia said in a statement. “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.”