Published Jul 20, 2026, 5:00 AM EDT
Retired Adm. Robert P. Burke, once the second-highest uniformed officer in the Navy, is serving six years behind bars for bribery charges.
The attorney for an imprisoned Navy admiral told Military.com that efforts are underway to either get him a new trial, or to receive a pardon from President Donald Trump. Retired four-star Navy Adm. Robert P. Burke, 63, of Coconut Creek, Fla., once the second-highest uniformed Navy officer who formerly commanded forces in Africa, Europe and Russia, was found guilty in May 2025 of conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery, performing acts affecting a personal financial interest, and concealing material facts from the United States following a five-day trial. He was sentenced in September to six years in prison. His case received revived attention in May 2026, when Burke's alleged co-conspirators—Next Jump co-CEOs Yongchul “Charlie” Kim and Meghan Messenger—were found not guilty of conspiracy or bribery by a federal jury in Washington D.C. Kim and Messenger were on trial in 2025, with their cases resulting in a hung jury and a mistrial. The most recent trial included prosecutorial allegations that the pair agreed to pay Burke a $500,000 salary with stock options projected to be worth millions of dollars, according to the Associated Press, in exchange for Burke ordering staffers to give a contract to Next Jump—a New York-headquartered technology company that Kim founded in 1994—and to promote the company’s product to other senior Navy commanders.
