Luke is a former US Coast Guard officer and attorney, having retired from active duty as a Commander. While on active duty, he served as a military prosecutor, defense counsel, and Special Assistant US Attorney, having investigated and litigated a wide variety of criminal matters. During his career in government, Luke participated in numerous complex civil and criminal investigations of individuals and corporations for environmental crimes, seaman's manslaughter, fraud, and obstruction of justice. As legal counsel to senior managers of the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (OSLTF), he also assisted in the adjudication and payment of more than US$200M in pollution claims under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), and assisted the Department of Justice in civil cost recovery litigation from responsible parties. While an active duty attorney, Luke led numerous missions in more than 20 European, African, and Asian nations in furtherance of various US national security and foreign policy objectives. These missions included providing overseas training and assistance to foreign nations in rule of law development, combating transnational crime, counter-piracy operations, drug and human smuggling interdiction, the legal aspects of counterterrorism, border security, anti-corruption, human rights, and war crimes.
He was the recipient of numerous awards from the US Coast Guard and US Department of Justice during his active duty service in the Coast Guard.
