Prosecutors want Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira to serve nearly 17 years in prison after he shared highly classified military documents on Russia’s war in Ukraine on the social media platform Discord.
Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was arrested in April 2023 from his home in North Dighton, Massachusetts, at the age of 21. In March, he pleaded guilty to six counts of the willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act.
Prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum filed Tuesday that Teixeira “perpetrated one of the most significant and consequential violations of the Espionage Act in American history.”
“As both a member of the United States Armed Forces and a clearance holder, the defendant took an oath to defend the United States and to protect its secrets—secrets that are vital to U.S. national security and the physical safety of Americans serving overseas,” prosecutors wrote. “Teixeira violated his oath, almost every day, for over a year.”
Teixeira’s attorneys, meanwhile, will argue for an 11-year prison sentence. Teixeira is set to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani on November 12.
This artist depiction shows Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, right, appearing in U.S. District Court in Boston, April 14, 2023. Prosecutors want Teixeira to serve nearly 17 years in prison after he shared highly classified military documents on Russia’s war in Ukraine on the social media platform Discord.
Margaret Small via AP, File
Details About Teixeira’s Case
In the most consequential national security leak in years, Teixeira admitted that he illegally collected some of the United States’ most sensitive secrets and shared them with other Discord users.
Teixeira, who was a cyber transport systems specialist for the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, first typed out classified documents he accessed and then began sharing photographs of files that read SECRET and TOP SECRET, according to authorities.
Prosecutors said he tried to cover his tracks before he was arrested, and authorities found a smashed tablet, laptop and Xbox gaming console in a dumpster at his home.
The leaked documents included intel about troop movements in Ukraine and the provision of supplies and equipment to Ukrainian troops.
The security breach embarrassed the Pentagon. Following the leaks, the U.S. Department of Defense tightened controls to safeguard classified information and disciplined members found to have intentionally failed to take required action about Teixeria’s suspicious behavior.
What Has the Defense Said?
The defense acknowledged in their sentencing memorandum filed Tuesday that Teixeira “made a terrible decision which he repeated over 14 months.”
“It’s a crime that deserves serious consequences,” Teixeira’s attorneys wrote. “Jack has thoroughly accepted responsibility for the wrongfulness of his actions and stands ready to accept whatever punishment must now be imposed.”
Teixeira’s attorneys wrote that 11 years in prison is “serious and adequate to account for deterrence considerations and would be essentially equal to half the life that Jack has lived thus far.”
They described Teixeira as autistic, isolated and spending most of his time online, especially with his Discord community, arguing that although his actions were criminal, they were never meant to “harm the United States.”
“Instead, his intent was to educate his friends about world events to make certain they were not misled by misinformation,” the attorneys wrote. “To Jack, the Ukraine war was his generation’s World War II or Iraq, and he needed someone to share the experience with.”
What Has the Prosecution Said?
Prosecutors said Teixeira does not suffer from an intellectual disability that prevents him from discerning between right and wrong and questioned the relevance of his post-arrest diagnosis of “mild, high-functioning” autism to the case.
“Whatever developmental or social difficulties Teixeira may have experienced, his decision to illegally disclose national defense information and put the lives of other people at risk was a volitional choice that he made knowingly, willfully, and with full awareness of the consequences time and time again,” prosecutors wrote.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
