How an online relationship with a Russian woman led to a Navy chief getting busted down to E-4 December 10, 2020 Chief Information Systems Technician Charles T. Briggs pleaded guilty Tuesday to sharing a classified email with a Russian woman in January 2019 while stationed at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. (the-lightwriter/Getty Images) An online relationship with a Russian woman led to a Navy IT chief losing his anchors this week. In addition to being busted down to E-4, Briggs was also sentenced to 31 months in the brig, Navy officials said. The woman’s name is redacted in charge sheets provided to Navy Times, but the charge sheet states that “the information could be used to injure the United States or benefit a foreign nation.”