Prosecutors want Pentagon secrets leaker to face 17 years in prison

BOSTON, Massachusetts: Prosecutors want a Massachusetts Air National Guard member who pleaded guilty to leaking highly classified military documents about the Ukraine war to serve nearly 17 years in prison.

In a sentencing memorandum filed this week, prosecutors said Jack Teixeira "perpetrated one of the most significant and consequential violations of the Espionage Act in American history."

Teixeira's attorneys will argue that U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani should sentence him to 11 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for November 12. His attorneys acknowledged that he "made a terrible decision which he repeated over 14 months."

Teixeira, a 22-year-old from North Dighton, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in March to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act, nearly a year after his arrest in one of the most significant national security leaks in recent years.

He admitted to illegally collecting some of the country's most sensitive secrets and sharing them with users on the social media platform Discord. When he pleaded guilty, prosecutors announced they would pursue a sentence at the upper end of the recommended range.

However, the defense presented Teixeira as autistic, isolated, and highly active online, especially within his Discord community. They noted that his actions, though criminal, were not intended to "harm the United States." Teixeira has no prior criminal record.

Prosecutors countered, asserting that Teixeira's diagnosis of "mild, high-functioning" autism, given post-arrest, is of "questionable relevance" and does not imply an intellectual disability that prevented him from distinguishing right from wrong.

The leak heightened concerns about America's ability to protect its most sensitive information, forcing the Biden administration to respond quickly to mitigate diplomatic and military impacts. The Pentagon, embarrassed by the breach, tightened security protocols around classified information and disciplined those who ignored red flags about Teixeira's behavior.

A member of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts, Teixeira worked as a cyber transport systems specialist, an IT role critical to military communications.

The leak revealed unfiltered assessments of Russia's war in Ukraine, including troop movements and U.S. supply provisions to Ukrainian forces. Teixeira also admitted to posting details of a U.S. adversary's plans to harm American troops overseas.