Shown is the StratCom Gate at Offutt Air Force Base. (Courtesy of Offutt Air Force Base)

LINCOLN — A federal judge sentenced a former civilian employee of the U.S. Air Force on Wednesday to nearly six years in federal prison on one felony count of conspiring to transmit classified national defense information via a foreign online dating platform in 2022 regarding the Russia-Ukraine war.

U.S. District Judge Brian Buescher sentenced David Franklin Slater of Auburn to 70 months in prison and a year of supervised release. Slater pleaded guilty in July; he was 64 at that time. As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed two other charges against Slater of willful transmission of national defense information. Buescher also assessed a $25,000 fine, with interest, against Slater. Slater

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