Burke is an agent with the FBI working in the bureau's White Collar Crime division. Notorious White Collar criminal Neal Caffrey is his confidential informant, working off the remainder of a four-year prison sentence in Burke's custody. Though they're obviously not partners in the conventional sense, Burke and Neal work cases together in a very close working dynamic. Burke approaches his job with a by-the-book attitude and is hesitant to engage in unconventional tactics. Working with a character such as Neal does mean he occasionally bends the rules, though he's never willing to compromise his ethics.Background: Burke is in his late-40s. He entered the FBI academy soon after college. Burke met wife Elizabeth while investigating an art heist at the gallery where she worked. Burke was the agent who initially arrested the famously elusive Neal.