Jack Teixeira, a US Air National Guardsman who leaked Pentagon documents last year in one of the most high-profile intelligence cases in recent years, was sentenced to 15 years prison.
Teixeira, 22, pleaded guilty to knowingly retaining and transmitting national defense information in March.
While working at the Air National Guard base, Teixeira obtained documents including maps, satellite images and intelligence on U.S. allies, then posted those documents. an online platform popular with gamers.
Among the documents he shared was classified information about the war in Ukraine.
Prosecutors asked U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to impose a 16½-year sentence on Teixeira. His defense attorney asked for a sentence of 11 years in prison.
In asking for a lenient sentence, Teixeira’s attorneys argued in court filings that the pilot was the target of bullying while in high school and his military unit, and that he suffered endure isolation.
Meanwhile, prosecutors argued for a longer prison sentence, saying the pilot had “committed one of the most egregious and consequential violations of the Espionage Act in history.” USA”.
“Teixeira understood the risk to his country and did it anyway,” prosecutors told Judge Talwani on Tuesday.
Passing sentence, Judge Talwani told Teixeira: “You are young and have a future ahead of you, but it was a serious crime.”
According to reporters inside the Boston courthouse, Teixeira apologized in court and said he understood that “all responsibility and consequences fall on my shoulders.”
Teixeira started with a small group of gun and military enthusiasts on a Discord server or chat room in late 2022. Although the material initially remained in that chat room, the information was later shared again on more public channels.
These documents were later obtained by pro-Kremlin Telegram channels and military bloggers.
Teixeira joined the Massachusetts Air National Guard, the U.S. Air Force reserve, in 2019. In that role, he had top-secret security clearances.
According to court documents, to obtain this authorization, Teixeira signed a “lifetime binding non-disclosure agreement” acknowledging that “unauthorized disclosure of protected information may give rise to charges criminal”.
Teixeira’s leak prompted the Pentagon to examine its system for handling classified information.
This is a developing story and will be updated
