The guy who leaked US military secrets about aid to Ukraine was sentenced to 15 years in prison

Jack Teixeira, the US National Guard soldier who leaked last year's classified Pentagon Papers, sentenced to 15 years in prison. Teixeira's case has become one of the most high-profile national security cases in recent years, writes Air force.

Photo: American Court © Oguz Eren | Dreamstime.com

In March of this year, Teixeira, 22, pleaded guilty to knowingly possessing and transmitting national defense information.

Working out of an Air National Guard base, Teixeira obtained materials including maps, satellite images and intelligence on U.S. allies and then posted the documents on an online platform popular with gamers.

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Teixeira began posting documents to a small group of gun and military enthusiasts on a Discord server or chat room in late 2022. While the documents initially remained in that chat room, the information was eventually re-distributed to more public channels.

The documents posted by Teixeira were later picked up by pro-Kremlin Telegram channels and military bloggers.

Among the documents he shared was confidential information about the war in Ukraine.

Prosecutors asked U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to sentence Teixeira to 16 11/XNUMX years in prison, while defense attorneys asked for XNUMX years.

In their motion for a lighter sentence, Teixeira's lawyers argued that the pilot was bullied in high school and in his military unit, and that he suffered from isolation.

Meanwhile, prosecutors pushed for a longer prison term, saying the pilot "committed one of the most significant and serious violations of the Espionage Act in American history."

"Teixeira understood the risk to his country and did it anyway," prosecutors told Judge Talwani on November 12.

In sentencing, Judge Talwani told Teixeira: "You are young and have a future ahead of you, but this is a very serious crime."

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Teixeira apologized to the court, saying he understood that "all responsibility and consequences fall solely on my shoulders."

Teixeira joined the Massachusetts Air National Guard, U.S. Air Force Reserve, in 2019. While in the service, he received a top secret clearance.

To obtain this clearance, Teixeira signed a "lifetime mandatory non-disclosure agreement" acknowledging that "unauthorized disclosure of protected information could result in criminal charges."

The Teixeira case has prompted the Pentagon to review the security of its systems for handling classified information.

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