WASHINGTON (AP) — A retired four-star U.S. Navy admiral was sentenced on Tuesday to six years in prison for his conviction on corruption charges that he agreed to exchange a military contract for a lucrative postretirement job.
Retired Adm. Robert P. Burke — once the second-highest uniformed officer in the Navy — was commanding its forces in Europe and Africa when he engaged in a bribery plot with two business executives, according to federal prosecutors.
A jury convicted Burke of four counts, including conspiracy and accepting a bribe, after a trial in May. A separate trial for Burke’s two co-defendants — Next Jump co-CEOs Yongchul “Charlie” Kim and Meghan Messenger — ended with a hung jury and a mistrial last Thursday.
Burke, 63, declined to address the court before U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden in Washington, D.C., sentenced him.
“This was blatantly unlawful, as you well knew,” the judge told him. “But you did it anyway.”
The judge told Burke that he betrayed the public's trust and his oath of office.
“This is a sad day and a sad chapter in the U.S. Navy,” McFadden said.
Prosecutors sought a 10-year prison sentence for Burke, saying he abused his powerful position to enrich himself at the Navy's expense.
“Burke’s conduct was as blatant and egregious as it was damaging to the public’s trust in its leaders and corrosive to the integrity of the procurement system,” prosecutors wrote. “His offense demands accountability. His crime calls out for punishment.”
Burke's attorneys say they will appeal his convictions. They cited his “lifetime of extraordinary public service” in asking the judge to spare Burke from a prison sentence.
“This is not a case of a career criminal,” they wrote. “It is the case of a single, tragic, and aberrant chapter at the very end of a life defined by honor, courage, and commitment.”
Kim and Messenger agreed to pay Burke a $500,000 salary with stock options projected to be worth millions of dollars, according to prosecutors. In exchange, they said, Burke ordered his staff to give a contract to Next Jump and promoted the company's product to other senior Navy commanders.
Burke's attorneys said a military commander with his experience could have landed a better-paying job in the private sector.
“He was not motivated by greed, but by a belief in the mission and product of the company,” they wrote.
In 2018, Next Jump had a multimillion-dollar Navy contract to provide workforce training to an office under Burke’s command. But the Navy terminated the “poorly received” pilot program after approximately one year, prosecutors said.
In 2021, Burke privately met with Kim and Messenger to discuss another contract. Kim and Messenger proposed a contract “to provide basically the same programming that had failed two years earlier,” according to prosecutors. Several months later, Burke ordered subordinates to ensure Next Jump had a contract to train Navy personnel in Italy and Spain, prosecutors said.
“The truth is, Burke knew this training was a waste of time and money, and not suitable for his command, let alone the entire Navy,” prosecutors wrote.
Burke later retired from the Navy and joined Next Jump in October 2022.
Reed Brodsky, one of Messenger's attorneys, said there was no link between the job offer and the contract. Brodsky argued at trial that Burke repeatedly lied to Messenger and Kim about the contracting process.
“They relied on the admiral. The admiral was the expert. The admiral lied and concealed,” Brodsky told jurors, according to a transcript.
Retired Adm. Robert P. Burke, 63, walks out of the federal courthouse after being sentenced to six year in prison for his conviction on corruption charges, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Retired Adm. Robert P. Burke, 63, right, accompanied by his attorney, walks out of the federal courthouse after being sentenced to six years in prison for his conviction on corruption charges, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) —
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina voters on Tuesday aimed to winnow the field in high-profile races for governor and U.S. Senate, with Republicans seeking to maintain a statewide winning streak that stretches back decades.
Republican contenders have trumpeted their loyalty to President Donald Trump, who has remained popular in the state despite some nationwide wavering as the war with Iran continues. Sen. Lindsey Graham, among Trump's top allies on Capitol Hill, notched the president's endorsement before his campaign had even begun.
In the governor's race, Trump backed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette over several opponents, including U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace. The primary will determine whether the endorsement can help Evette win outright or if there will be a runoff on June 23.
Democrats are searching for their first victory in a statewide race here in 20 years, but their campaigns for governor and Senate were an uphill climb.
Competition among Republicans for Trump’s support has seemed more intense than any other facet of the primary campaign.
Even before Evette received the president's endorsement, she frequently featured photos and videos of herself with Trump in campaign materials. She was backed by outgoing Gov. Henry McMaster, a longstanding ally of Trump whose support telegraphed the president's own.
Mace also wanted Trump's support, and he endorsed her congressional reelection in 2024 even though she criticized his actions of Jan. 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Rep. Ralph Norman, among the most conservative members of the House and a member of the Freedom Caucus, strongly supported Trump in the president’s first term. But in the 2024 campaign, Norman stumped for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley instead of Trump.
Rom Reddy, a coastal businessman who has eschewed campaign donations and self-funded his effort, has touted his lack of political experience as an asset, drawing comparisons between Trump and himself.
South Carolina’s other top contest Tuesday is its Senate race, where Graham is competing for the Republican nomination as he seeks a fifth term. A political confidant and regular golfing partner of the president, Graham has routinely batted back primary challengers over the years. Some of this year's contenders — including Project 2025 chief architect Paul Dans and former Lt. Gov. André Bauer — dropped out months ago.
Although their relationship has undulated through the years, Graham has remained close with Trump, who fulfilled the senator's longstanding wish for direct confrontation between Washington and Tehran. Graham cheered Trump’s decision to strike nuclear sites last year and recently said he often speaks to the president about the ongoing conflict.
Among Graham's primary foes is Greenville businessman Mark Lynch, who has said Graham isn't conservative enough to represent the state. Calling himself an “America First” candidate, Lynch has campaigned as a Trump supporter, but on social media the president has called him a “lunatic” and a “disaster for the Republican Party."
Democrats haven’t won the governor’s office or a Senate seat in South Carolina for decades and Republicans in recent history typically have taken statewide seats by double-digit margins.
On Tuesday, Charleston pediatrician Annie Andrews has won South Carolina’s Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, bidding to block Graham from a fifth term. Andrews, who unsuccessfully ran against Mace in 2022, had challenged what she’s characterized as Graham’s waffling positions over the course of his political career.
Republicans in recent history typically take statewide seats by double-digit margins. And when he last ran in 2020, Graham defeated his Democratic opponent, Jaime Harrison, by a 10 percentage point margin.
Meanwhile, McMaster defeated his opponent by nearly 18 percentage points in 2022.
Some Democrats hope to capitalize on dissatisfaction with Trump this year.
In the governor's race, state Rep. Jermaine Johnson advanced Tuesday to a Democratic primary runoff in the South Carolina governor’s race.
Johnson has represented a district in the Columbia area for three terms. Seen as a rising star in the state party, Johnson was tapped to give this year’s Democratic response to Republican Gov. Henry McMaster’s state of the state address.
The winner of the November general election will succeed McMaster, who has been in office since Nikki Haley left her term early to join the first Trump administration.
Democrats have not won a general election for governor in South Carolina since 1998, and Republicans have controlled all statewide-elected offices in the state for more than a decade.
In the governor's race, State Rep. Jermaine Johnson, seen as a rising star in the party, won the Democratic nomination to advance to November's general election. He was facing several opponents, including political newcomer Billy Webster, a payday loan company founder who lent his campaign $2 million. There also was attorney Mullins McLeod, who withstood calls from party leaders to shutter his campaign after dashcam video of his 2025 disorderly conduct arrest was released.
Johnson has represented a district in the Columbia area for three terms. In gaining prominence, he also was tapped to give this year’s Democratic response to McMaster’s state of the state address.
The winner of the November general election will succeed McMaster, who has been in office since Nikki Haley left her term early to join the first Trump administration. Democrats have not won a general election for governor in South Carolina since 1998, and Republicans have controlled all statewide-elected offices in the state for more than a decade.
This story has been corrected to show Jermaine Johnson won the Democratic nomination for South Carolina governor, not entering a runoff.
Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP
South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette speaks during the final rally of her GOP primary campaign for governor on Monday, June 8, 2026, in Greer, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)
FILE - U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., takes questions from reporters following a South Carolina gubernatorial GOP candidate debate on April 1, in Newberry, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)
FILE - Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, R-S.C., takes questions from reporters after receiving the endorsement of Gov. Henry McMaster, R-S.C., in the 2026 GOP gubernatorial primary, Feb. 12, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)
FILE - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks with supporters after filing his reelection paperwork, March 16, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)
