A retired four-star Navy admiral has been found guilty of bribery by a Washington, D.C., jury.

Robert Burke, who oversaw U.S. naval operations in Europe, Russia and most of Africa from 2020 to 2022, accepted future employment at a government vendor in exchange for awarding the company a contract, the federal jury ruled.

The jury on Monday convicted Burke of bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery, performing acts affecting a personal financial interest and concealing material facts from the U.S.

Burke’s lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, told The New York Times they planned to appeal the conviction.

“They presented a tiny, tiny sliver of evidence,” Parlatore reportedly said, referring to the federal prosecutors. “We do think this is a case where a wrongful conviction was obtained because the jury was prevented from hearing the whole truth.”

Burke gained employment at the company in October 2022 at a starting annual salary of $500,000 and a grant of 100,000 stock options, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Fifteen months earlier, Burke allegedly agreed to use his position in the Navy to steer a contract to the company for future employment.

“When you abuse your position and betray the public trust to line your own pockets, it undermines the confidence in the government you represent,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro for the District of Columbia said in a news release. “Our office, with our law enforcement partners, will root out corruption — be it bribes or illegal contracts — and hold accountable the perpetrators, no matter what title or rank they hold.”

Burke ordered his staff to award a $355,000 contract to the company in December 2021, the DOJ said. The admiral met with the co-CEOs of the company five months earlier against the instructions of the Navy, which had directed the executives not to contact Burke. The Navy had terminated a contract with the company in late 2019, the DOJ said.

At the meeting, the CEOs, who wanted to reestablish their relationship with the Navy, allegedly came to the agreement with Burke for a future job offer. The three also agreed the admiral would use his position to influence other Navy officers to award another contract to the company, the DOJ said.

After January 2022, when the company performed training that was agreed on in the $355,000 contract, the DOJ said, Burke promoted the business in an effort to convince another senior Navy admiral to award the company a contract.

Burke allegedly concealed the “scheme” by making several false and misleading statements to the Navy. He falsely implied his employment discussions with the company began months after the $355,000 contract was awarded, according to the DOJ. The admiral also left out the truth on a required government ethics disclosure form, the DOJ said.

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