Prosecutors sought 17 years imprisonment for ‘vital’ violations of the Espionage Act.
Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts National Guard, has been jailed for 15 years for leaking categorized paperwork concerning the struggle in Ukraine and different navy secrets and techniques.
A federal decide in Boston, United States, on Tuesday sentenced the 22-year-old after he pleaded guilty earlier this yr to 6 counts of wilful retention and transmission of nationwide defence data underneath the Espionage Act.
Prosecutors had argued for a 17-year sentence for Teixeira, saying he “perpetrated some of the vital and consequential violations of the Espionage Act in American historical past”.
“The defendant took an oath to defend the USA and to guard its secrets and techniques – secrets and techniques which can be important to US nationwide safety and the bodily security of People serving abroad,” prosecutors wrote. “Teixeira violated his oath, nearly every single day, for over a yr.”
Breach raised questions on US skill to guard secrets and techniques
Teixeira, from North Dighton, Massachusetts, was a part of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air Nationwide Guard Base, positioned on Cape Cod.
He labored as a cyber-transport techniques specialist – primarily an data expertise specialist liable for navy communications networks.
Authorities mentioned he shared the categorized paperwork on the messaging app Discord.
Teixeira started by typing out copies that he then revealed on-line.
Later, he photographed the recordsdata, a few of which bore “SECRET” and “TOP SECRET” markings.
The paperwork included details about allies and adversaries together with troop actions in Ukraine and prime secret details about Israel’s Mossad spy company. Teixeira additionally admitted posting details about a US adversary’s plans to hurt US forces serving abroad.
The breach raised questions concerning the US’s skill to guard its secrets and techniques and embarrassed the administration of President Joe Biden, which scrambled to comprise the diplomatic and navy fallout.
Teixeira’s attorneys requested for a lighter sentence of 11 years, arguing their shopper had no political purpose and was not working as a spy for a overseas authorities. Of their sentencing doc, they acknowledged their shopper had “made a horrible resolution which he repeated over 14 months”.
“As an alternative, his intent was to coach his associates about world occasions to make sure they weren’t misled by misinformation,” the attorneys wrote.
“To Jack, the Ukraine struggle was his technology’s World Conflict II or Iraq, and he wanted somebody to share the expertise with.”
They famous that Teixeira had by no means been convicted of a criminal offense earlier than.
However prosecutors countered that Teixeira didn’t endure from any mental incapacity that might forestall him from realizing proper from improper, including that his post-arrest prognosis of “gentle, high-functioning” autism was of “questionable relevance” to the case.
‘I wished to say, ‘I’m sorry”
Teixeira apologised to the court docket for his actions earlier than he was sentenced by the US District Decide Indira Talwani.
“I wished to say, ‘I’m sorry for all of the hurt that I introduced and prompted’,” Texeira mentioned referring to the “maelstrom” he prompted household and associates.
“I perceive all of the accountability and penalties fall upon my shoulders alone and settle for no matter that may deliver,” he mentioned. Teixeira hugged certainly one of his attorneys and regarded in the direction of his household and smiled earlier than being led out of court docket.
He can’t be charged with any additional Espionage Act violations underneath the phrases of his responsible plea.
