17-year prison sentence sought for Pentagon secrets leaker

Prosecutors want Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira to serve nearly 17 years in prison for leaking highly classified military documents online about the war in Ukraine, according to multiple reports.

Teixeira, 22, in March pleaded guilty in federal court to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act after he admitted to illegally collecting the sensitive material and posting it on Discord, a social media platform popular with online gamers.

Prosecutors said Teixeira’s actions were “one of the most significant and consequential violations of the Espionage Act in American history,” according to a sentencing memorandum filed Tuesday, reported by The Associated Press.

“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.”

But defense attorneys for Teixeira say he should serve no more than 11 years because he is “still essentially a child,” according to a memo sent to a judge in the U.S. District Court in Boston ahead of the disgraced service member’s sentencing next month, as reported by ABC News.

“His conduct was clearly wrong and misguided, but his motives and decisions were naïve, not nefarious,” wrote the attorneys, Brendan Kelley and Michael Bachrach.

They also said that while Teixeira’s actions were “inexcusable,” “terrible” and deserve serious consequences, he is a "youthful offender’ — who has his whole life in front of him.”

The defense added that Teixeira is autistic and “severely stunted by his disabilities,” and an 11-year sentence “would provide more than enough time for him to grow and mature; informed by his behavior as well as from his punishment.”

Prosecutors, however, argued Teixeira made public secrets that damaged U.S. national security and put Americans serving overseas in danger.

“By posting intelligence products on the social media platform Discord to feed his own ego and impress his anonymous friends, Teixeira caused exceptionally grave damage to the national security of the United States,” they wrote. “The scope of his betrayal is breathtaking. The amount of damage he caused is immeasurable.”

Teixeira’s sentencing is set for Nov. 12, more than a year and a half after he was arrested and held without bail in April 2023.

Teixeira, who was part of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, worked as a cyber transport systems specialist. In the role, he was responsible for military communications networks. 

His case garnered international attention when it was revealed the Pentagon for months did not detect his online posts of classified military information.

Prosecutors contend that from January 2022 to April 2023, Teixeira conducted hundreds of searches of intelligence databases unrelated to his job, typing out classified documents he accessed and posting the information on Discord. He eventually began sharing direct photos of material marked “SECRET” and “TOP SECRET.”

The leak included U.S. assessments of Russia’s war in Ukraine — including troop movements and the equipment Ukrainian forces were given — as well as information about another country’s plans to harm American forces overseas.

The security breach was a U.S. embarrassment, and the Air Force later disciplined 15 personnel after the service’s inspector general found numerous officials who had been aware of his suspicious behavior but failed to take necessary action.

The Pentagon also tightened its security controls.