USA TODAY
A Massachusetts Air National Guard member was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for violating the Espionage Act by sharing hundreds of classified documents on social media, a security lapse officials called “breathtaking” and “immeasurable” that led to punishment for 15 service members.
Airman 1st Class Jack Teixeira, 22, pleaded guilty in March to six counts of willful retention of defense records for sharing classified documents through the social media platform Discord.
The leaks exposed embarrassing secrets and analysis from across the U.S. intelligence community involving Russia’s war in Ukraine and North Korea’s race to develop nuclear weapons.
“The scope of his betrayal is breathtaking,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy told U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in a sentencing memo. “The amount of damage he caused is immeasurable.”
‘One of the most significant’ violations of Espionage Act: prosecutors
Prosecutors recommended nearly 17 years in prison − 200 months − and defense lawyers were allowed to suggest no less than 11 years in prison, under the plea agreement.
Prosecutors said Teixeira caused “exceptionally grave damage to the national security of the United States” by posting the documents “to feed his own ego.”
“Defendant Jack Douglas Teixeira perpetrated one of the most significant and consequentialviolations of the Espionage Act in American history,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo. “The harm the defendant caused to the national security from his disclosures of national defense information is extraordinary.”
Defense lawyers portrayed Teixeira as lonely and isolated
Teixeira’s defense lawyers, public defenders Brendan Kelley and Michael Bachrach, described him as autistic and isolated, making friends online that he could never find in high school.
“His intent was never to harm the United States,” the lawyers said. “Instead, his intent was to educate his friends about world events to make certain they were not misled by misinformation.”