[By Guancha Observer Network, Mountain Cat]

According to a report by the U.S. Naval Institute News (USNI News) on May 19 local time, former U.S. Navy Admiral and former Deputy Chief of Naval Operations Robert Peter Burke was found guilty by a jury of four charges related to allegations that he exchanged post-retirement positions for Navy contracts in a bribery scheme, as claimed by the prosecution.

(File photo) Robert Peter Burke

The report stated that Robert Burke was found guilty of bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery, personal economic benefit, and making false official statements, all related to his ties with Next Jump Inc. According to court documents submitted by the prosecution, Robert Burke was accused of profiting from awarding contracts to Next Jump Inc. between 2020 and 2021 in exchange for a post-retirement position at the company. He was charged alongside Next Jump's co-CEO Megan Masonger and Yongchul "Charlie" Kim. Originally, the three were to be tried together; however, due to motions for separate trials filed by Masonger and Kim, the case was split.

(File photo) Two Next Jump executives, Yongchul "Charlie" Kim and Megan Masonger

Robert Peter Burke, born in 1962, joined the U.S. Navy in 1983 and served on multiple attack nuclear submarines and strategic missile nuclear submarines. From 2016 to 2019, he served as the 58th Chief of Naval Personnel, from June 2019 to May 2020 as the 40th Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, and from July 2020 to June 2022 as Commander of the U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa and NATO Allied Joint Force Command Naples. Shortly after retiring in 2022, Robert Burke secured an executive position at Next Jump with an annual salary of $500,000 plus 100,000 stock options.

On May 31, 2024, Robert Burke was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on suspicion of bribery-related charges. It was reported that Next Jump had signed a one-year short-term training contract with the U.S. Navy, effective from August 2018 to July 2019. After the contract ended in 2019, according to U.S. Navy regulations, neither Masonger nor Kim were allowed to contact Robert Burke. However, it was alleged that the two met with Robert Burke again in Washington D.C. in July 2021 to decide to use Burke's admiral status to secure an "exclusive contract" for the company in exchange for Burke's future employment there. The prosecution also stated that Burke promised at the time to "influence other naval officers" to award the company a "multi-billion-dollar" larger training contract. According to government briefings, despite Next Jump's poor product evaluations, Burke used his position to coerce subordinate commanders into signing contracts with the company. The prosecution stated that because he knew his actions violated U.S. government regulations, he concealed this meeting and did not inform the government about accepting a position at Next Jump.

In addition, it was alleged that Robert Burke issued a $355,000 contract to Next Jump in December 2021 to train personnel under his command in Italy and Spain, but no "larger contracts" seemed to materialize.

At a hearing on July 1, 2024, Robert Burke pleaded not guilty to these charges, as did the two other company executives. Following the jury's verdict, Burke's lawyer Tim Paratore told USNI News that they would appeal. Paratore said he did not agree with the jury's decision but "wouldn't fault the jury," because "the jury didn't have all the facts since not all evidence was presented." Therefore, more evidence will be presented in the appeal to prove Burke's innocence.

This article is an exclusive contribution by the Guancha Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7506477512738849292/

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