( CNN ) Gen. David Petraeus pleaded guilty Tuesday to one federal charge of removing and retaining classified information as part of a plea deal , court documents show . According to the documents , Petraeus admitted removing several so-called black books -- notebooks in which he kept classified and non-classified information from his tenure as the commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan -- and giving them to his biographer , Paula Broadwell . On November 9 , 2012 , he resigned from his CIA post , citing personal reasons . Petraeus allegedly provided classified intelligence to his lover , Broadwell , while he was director of the CIA . The married mother of two and former military officer was writing a book about the general at the time . During his time as commander in Afghanistan , Petraeus kept personal notes including classified information in eight 5-by-8 inch black notebooks . The classified information including identity of covert officers , war strategy , notes from diplomatic and national security meetings and security code words . David Petraeus fast facts . In August 2011 , according to the court documents , Petraeus dropped off the notebooks to a house in Washington , D.C. , so Broadwell could access them . He later retrieved them and brought them to his home in Arlington , Va. After Petraeus resigned in 2012 he told the government he had no classified materials in his possession . That turned out not to be true when the FBI in April 2013 conducted a search of his house and found the black notebooks in an unlocked desk drawer in a first floor study . When he was questioned by the FBI , he lied and claimed that he had never provided classified information to anyone not authorized to have it , according to the court documents . The relationship came to light during an FBI investigation into a complaint that Broadwell was allegedly sending harassing e-mails to another woman who was close to Petraeus , a U.S. official told CNN in January . Petraeus now works for New York private equity firm KKR & Co. Lawyers for Petraeus declined to comment .
Petraeus resigned as FBI chief when the affair came to light in 2012 . The general provided classified intelligence to his biographer , who was also his mistress .