Aye aye, admiral. (Ay-ay-ay-ay!)

Admiral Robert Burke was all set for a nice little old retirement for himself. Alas, Burke - once the second-in-command of the US Navy - got greedy. In September, he was sentenced to six years in prison (prosecutors had asked for a ten year sentence) - and had fines levied on him - for his spring conviction on corruption charges. His corruption? He awarded a hefty Naval contract in exchange for a plush job once he retired.

The company Burke cosied up to, Next Jump, is a leadership training company that "for 20+ years...has been on a mission to democratize elite performance coaching – helping leaders and teams make better decisions, day in and day out." Next Jump's leaders - Burke's co-defendants - Meghan Messenger and Charlie Kim were tried separately in a trial that ended up ending in a hung jury mistrial. (Not clear whether they'll retried.)

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. (Source: APNews)

A few years earlier, Next Jump had been awarded a multimillion-dollar contract for a workforce training program. The pilot failed and the Navy called it quits with Next Jump. Fast forward a bit, and Burke had a tete-a-tete with Kim and Messenger to talk about another contract. Next Jump's proposal was that they'd deliver a program pretty much the same as the failed one. Nonetheless, Burke forced his underlings to give them the contract. Hmmmm.

“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's next jump was retiring and accepting a job offer with Next Jump.

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

I have no doubt in my mind that Burke, who's in his early sixties, could have found any number of high-paying positions, or raked in the dough as a consultant and/or lobbiest. Companies LOVE hiring ex-military. (Ask me about working with a retired admiral at one of the goofier tech companies I served my time with.) Not that Burke couldn't have had a decently comfy retirement on his Navy pension - which as far as I can figure, would have been about $200K, plus all sorts of bennies like PX shopping and healthcare; all of which he stands to lose - but, hey, why not grab for the brass ring in the private sector.

But "belief in the mission"? Especiallly after his first experience with Next Jump was mission non-accomplished? I call BS.

Especially given that his attorneyes, when asking the judge not to send Burke to the brig, argued that:

“This is not a case of a career criminal...It is the case of a single, tragic, and aberrant chapter at the very end of a life defined by honor, courage, and commitment.”

So which was it? Belief in the mission or an aberrant chapter? 

Needless to say, Burke is appealing his sentence. 

Interestingly, Burke's legal team included Tim Parlatore, former personal attorney to Donald J. Trump. He's an advisor to and attorney for one Pete Hegseth of the US Department of Defense War. And a former partner in a law firm that defended John Gotti. 

I realize that everyone deserves a defense, but did Parlatore ever defend anyone decent????

Anyway, Parlatore's a slick one, and he may well get Burke off on appeal.

But what a black eye for Burke and the Navy. You'd think that such a high-ranking admiral wouldn't be as dumb as Cap'n Crunch. Ay-ay-ay-ay.

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Image Source: Florida Eye