Adn.com – Massachusetts Air National Guard Jack Teixeira has been officially sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for leaking classified Pentagon documents on a discord server
“I wanted to say I’m sorry for all the harm that I brought and caused,” Texeira said, referencing the “maelstrom” he caused to friends, family anyone affected overseas.
“I understand all the responsibility and consequences fall upon my shoulders alone and accept whatever that will bring,” he said, standing as he addressed the judge.
Afterward, Teixeira hugged one of his attorneys and looked towards his family and smiled before being led out of court.
The security breach raised alarm over America’s ability to protect its most closely guarded secrets and forced the Biden administration to scramble to try to contain the diplomatic and military fallout.
The leaks embarrassed the Pentagon, which tightened controls to safeguard classified information and disciplined members found to have intentionally failed to take required action about Teixeira’s suspicious behavior.
Before sentencing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Dolan told Talwani that 200 months — or a little more than 16 1/2 years – was appropriate given the “historic” damage caused by Teixeira’s conduct that aided adversaries of the United States and hurt the country’s allies.
He also said that recommendation by prosecutors would send a message to anyone in the military who might consider similar conduct.
“It is a significant, harsh and difficult sentence, one that will not be easy to serve,” Bachrach said.
“It will serve as an extreme deterrent to anyone particularly young servicemen. That is enough to keep them deterred from committing serious conduct.”
Teixeira, of North Dighton, Massachusetts, had pleaded guilty in March to six counts of the willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act. That came nearly a year after he was arrested in the most consequential national security leak in years.
The 22-year-old admitted that he illegally collected some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets and shared them with other users on the social media platform Discord.
When Teixeira pleaded guilty, prosecutors said they would seek a prison term at the high end of the sentencing range. But the defense wrote in their sentencing memorandum earlier that the 11 years “would be essentially equal to half the life that Jack has lived thus far.”
