OAN Staff Blake Wolf
10:57 AM – Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Former Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for leaking classified national defense information, which prosecutors characterized as “one of the most significant and consequential violations of the Espionage Act in American history.”
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Federal prosecutors, without mentioning specifics, stated that Teixeira “accessed and printed hundreds of classified documents,” regarding compromised U.S. accounts by hostile foreign adversaries, as well as logistical information regarding the equipment that the U.S. was sending to Ukraine as part of the war effort.
Prosecutors added that Teixeira also shared information regarding Ukrainian troop movements and hostile foreign plots regarding a possible attack on American troops abroad.
Teixeira also admitted in court that he knew the documents were marked as classified.
“Today, Mr. Teixeira has paid a very heavy price for the laws he broke and for the incredible damage that he caused,” stated Joshua S. Levy, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts.
“I expect that starting tomorrow, Jack Teixeira’s name will be mentioned when people are trained about the gravity of a top-secret clearance and the consequences if you leak information,” Levy continued.
Prosecutors attempted to argue for the maximum prison sentence for the offense of 200 months, or over 16 years in prison.
“The harm the defendant caused to the national security from his disclosures of national defense information is extraordinary,” prosecutors argued in a memorandum ahead of the hearing. “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. The scope of his betrayal is breathtaking.”
Meanwhile, Teixeira’s defense attorneys requested the minimum sentence, arguing that Teixeira essentially did not know better due to having autism and ADHD.
“Jack is still essentially a child – at the very least, a ‘youthful offender’ – who has his whole life in front of him,” stated Teixeira’s legal team. “At 22 years old, a sentence of 132 months’ imprisonment would provide more than enough time to grow and mature; informed by his behavior as well as from his punishment.”
Teixeira pleaded guilty to six counts of willfully retaining and transmitting national defense information in March, and as part of the agreement, Teixeira is required to sit for a debrief with members of the Defense Department and the Justice Department to hand over any additional sensitive documents in his possession.
Teixeira first enlisted in the Air National Guard in 2019, and was granted top security clearance in 2021, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
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