Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for leaking highly classified military documents about Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The 22-year-old appeared in federal court Tuesday after pleading guilty to leaking information to his online friends on Discord, considered one of the largest national security breaches in years.
Prosecutors had urged the judge to hand down a 17-year sentence because Teixeira had “taken an oath to defend the United States and protect its secrets.”
“Secrets that are vital to the national security of the United States and the physical safety of Americans serving abroad,” prosecutors said. “Teixeira violated his oath, almost every day, for more than a year.”
The defense accepted he “made a terrible decision” repeatedly over 14 months. They hoped he would receive no more than 11 years behind bars.
Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for leaking highly classified military documents about Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“It is a crime that deserves serious consequences,” his lawyers accepted.
“Jack has fully accepted responsibility for the wrongfulness of his actions and is willing to accept whatever punishment is now imposed on him.”
Teixeira pleaded guilty in March to six counts of intentionally retaining and transmitting national defense information, which fall under the umbrella of the Espionage Act.
He had been arrested in April 2023.
The 22-year-old collected sensitive and secret data using his security clearance and then shared it on social media platform Discord.
Teixeira, 22, was charged with six counts of intentionally withholding national defense information and subsequently leaking it.
Jack Teixeira previously pleaded not guilty to the charges, but later changed his plea to guilty.
The US Department of Justice released photographic evidence collected during the investigation into the US Air National Guard member.
FBI agents arrest U.S. Air Force National Guard employee Teixeira in North Dighton, Massachusetts, on April 13, 2023
Teixeira was described as autistic and isolated, and as a young man who spent most of his time online.
His lawyers said his actions were never intended to “harm the United States.”
“His intention was to educate his friends about world events to ensure they were not misled by misinformation,” the attorneys wrote.
“For Jack, the war in Ukraine was his generation’s Second World War or Iraq, and he needed someone to share the experience with.”
Teixeira was diagnosed with autism after his arrest, and prosecutors argued that it was “mild” and that he remained “high-functioning.”
Some of the information he shared was considered “secret” or “top secret.”
