Retired MacDill colonel formally pleads guilty to keeping classified documents

A retired MacDill airman has admitted to holding classified documents at his Tampa home.

Retired Col. Robert Birchum officially pleaded guilty to a federal charge that he unlawfully retained national defense information. The former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer admitted in federal court Tuesday that he kept classified national security documents in his home.

The charge carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence, but his penalty could be less than that.

This investigation dates back to January 24, 2017, when the Air Force's Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) received information indicating that Birchum had been storing classified information on a thumb drive at his home. A search of his home that same day found a thumb drive containing 135 files that were marked as containing Top Secret, Top Secret/ACCM, Secret, and/or Confidential classified information.

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Documents filed in the Middle District of Tampa show some of the documents contained information "discussing the NSA's collection of information" and that "their unauthorized release could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security of the United States."

During that search, officers also seized the hard drive of a Dell computer and found more files containing information marked as secret as well as 48 paper documents.

On another search on January 30, 2017, a hard drive from temporary quarters overseas revealed 117 additional files containing "classified national defense information."  A final search on February 3, 2017, of a storage pod at his Tampa home for 28 paper documents marked as Secret.

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According to court documents, Birchum served on active duty as a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force from May 1986 to July 2018, when he retired at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

The documents go on to state, throughout his time in the Air Force, Birchum worked in various jobs in intelligence, including as an Intelligence Officer and because of his job duties, he held a Top-Secret security clearance with access to classified information. Court documents show Birchum signed an NDA as a condition of access to those documents.

A plea agreement states Birchum’s "residence was not a location authorized to store classified information, and the defendant knew as much." He initially entered the guilty plea to one count of unlawful retention of national defense information charges. The formal plea hearing was held Tuesday.

Tampa