Ex-CIA chief admits mishandling classified information, Justice says

FILE - This Feb. 2, 2012 file photo shows CIA Director David Petraeus testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington. When Defense Secretary Leon Panetta pointedly warned young troops last spring to mind their ways, he may have been lecturing the wrong audience. The culture of military misconduct starts at the top. At least five current and former U.S. general officers have been reprimanded or investigated for possible misconduct in the past two weeks _ a startling run of embarrassment for a military whose stock among Americans rose so high during a decade of war that its leaders seemed almost untouchable.  (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)
FILE - This Feb. 2, 2012 file photo shows CIA Director David Petraeus testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington. When Defense Secretary Leon Panetta pointedly warned young troops last spring to mind their ways, he may have been lecturing the wrong audience. The culture of military misconduct starts at the top. At least five current and former U.S. general officers have been reprimanded or investigated for possible misconduct in the past two weeks _ a startling run of embarrassment for a military whose stock among Americans rose so high during a decade of war that its leaders seemed almost untouchable. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Former CIA Director David Petraeus has agreed to plead guilty to mishandling classified materials, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

A Justice Department statement said a plea agreement has been filed in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, N.C.

The agency said the former top Army general was charged with one count of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material. The statement said Petraeus had signed an agreement pleading guilty to the single criminal count.

Petraeus' lawyers David Kendall and Robert Barnett in Washington declined to comment.

The case was filed in Charlotte, the hometown of Paula Broadwell, the general's biographer and former mistress.

Read Wednesday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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