The Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused of leaking hundreds of classified Pentagon documents was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a federal judge Tuesday.
Jack Teixeira was accused of sharing the classified Defense Department documents on the online messaging platform Discord. He was arrested in April 2023 and charged with six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information.
Teixeira pleaded guilty to the six charges against him in March as part of the plea deal under which federal prosecutors agreed not to add additional counts using the Espionage Act.
Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts sentenced Teixeira to 15 years in prison, which was within the 132- to 200-month prison sentence agreed to in the plea deal.
Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Joshua Levy told reporters Tuesday that he expects Teixeira will become a name used in future training to illustrate the consequences of leaking top-secret information.
“Mr. Teixeira has paid a very heavy price for the laws he broke and for the incredible damage that he caused,” Levy said. “This significant sentence sends a powerful message to every individual who holds a top-secret clearance: Anyone who willfully threatens our national security by illegally disseminating classified information will face very serious repercussions.”
FBI Boston Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen told reporters that Teixeira is a “textbook example of an insider threat.”
Federal prosecutors claimed that Teixeira, who had top-secret clearance while working in the 102nd Intelligence Wing, shared hundreds of documents on Discord between 2022 and 2023, including some regarding the war in Ukraine.
“The documents and information Teixeira posted to social media are highly classified and contain vital national defense information,” Justice Department officials said in a sentencing memorandum filed to the court. “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.”
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“The scope of his betrayal is breathtaking,” the DOJ’s sentencing memo continued. “The amount of damage he caused is immeasurable.”
Teixeira was previously reprimanded by his superiors in September and October 2022 for mishandling classified materials.