TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Retired Lt. Colonel Robert Birchum, who served at MacDill Air Force Base at the end of his career, will appeal a sentence for possessing classified defense documents.
Birchum, 55, was sentenced this month to three years in prison along with three years supervised release and a $25,000 fine.
As part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, Birchum pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of unauthorized possession and retention of documents relating to National defense.
Defense Attorney Eric Roper filed a notice of appeal Tuesday morning.
“We were disappointed in the sentence,” Roper said. “We look forward to moving forward.”
During the sentencing phase, Roper asked for probation for Birchum.
Birchum, who served 29 years in the Air Force, told the court he did not share the classified information with anyone.
The investigation that led to the indictment of former President Donald Trump, and allegations of mishandled classified information involving President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were referenced in Birchum’s sentencing motion.
According to investigators, Birchum illegally possessed 338 classified documents that were saved from 2002 to 2008. Some were found in a storage pod in his Tampa driveway during a search by federal agents in 2017.
The sentencing motion filed last month indicated Birchum was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in 2009, after he was “deployed overseas at least six times.”
His intelligence work “supported over 40 strikes against foreign terror networks resulting in the capture or killing of over 800” enemies, the motion stated.
The probe was launched after Birchum’s wife found a document at their home, according to investigators who said other evidence was found in Birchum’s overseas living quarters.
During the investigation, Cristina Birchum was suspended without pay from her job as an intelligence analyst for the federal government, and her security clearance was revoked.
Bruce Parkman, a retired Green Beret who owns a data analytics and cyber security business, said while Birchum’s appeal was filed on the day of Trump’s court appearance, any comparison of the cases is not “apples to apples.”
Parkman pointed out the documents in Trump’s possession were stored at his Mar-a-Lago residence that is secured by Secret Service officers, while the items in Birchum’s case were “less secure.”
He said the age of the document’s from the Birchum investigation does not relieve the potential damage.
“In cases where spies are exposed, there exposed years or decades after they’ve already done damage to the country,” Parkman said. “So, what is important now is about setting the standard that no matter how old those documents are, you are going to pay a price.”
Roper told the court there is no evidence Birchum had any criminal intent to share the documents.
The appeals process is not expected to delay Birchum’s existing prison sentence that is scheduled to start next month.
