(WatchDogReport.org) – Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira pleaded guilty in federal court on March 4 to leaking top-secret military material about some national security secrets, including the war in Ukraine. According to an ABC News report, the 22-year-old man accepted a prison sentence of 16 years as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.
Teixeira pleaded guilty to six counts of transmission and willful retention of US defense information under the Espionage Act a year after authorities arrested him in what was described as the most consequential security leak in many years. Some media outlets reported that Teixeira smiled at his parents before being moved out of the courtroom.
The 22-year-old Air National Guard member admitted he illegally collected military classified documents and shared them with some users on the social media platform Discord. Numerous reports said that Teixeira had an online group of friends whom he played video games with, and bragged about having access to classified US military information.
The security breach raised alarms over the country’s ability to protect its top-secret documents, forcing the White House to scramble so it could prevent a military and diplomatic crisis. Some of the documents leaked by Teixeira revealed classified information about the US intelligence operations in South Korea and some of the main weaknesses of the Ukrainian armed forces in its resistance war against Russia.
The 22-year-old man has been imprisoned since his arrest in April 2023. The judge denied every request for release after US prosecutors revealed that the Air National Guard member had a record of violent rhetoric and about some “US adversaries” who could’ve been interested in facilitating his escape.
While prosecutors haven’t revealed details about Teixeira’s motives behind the leaks, they said that he kept leaking government top-secret documents even after superiors knew about it. Prosecutors added that he didn’t stop sharing classified materials with Discord users despite warnings from his superiors about improper viewing and mishandling of classified information.
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