Air National Guard Member Will Serve 15 Years for Leaking Hundreds of Classified Documents on Discord
A federal court has sentenced Jack Teixeira, an Airman First Class in the Air National Guard, to 15 years in prison for leaking Top Secret information on Discord.
This sentence comes after Teixeira pleaded guilty on March 4 to all six counts of transmitting and willfully retaining classified national defense information that he was initially charged with.
Investigation and Trial
Teixeira was indicted on June 15, 2023, and arrested on April 13, 2023, according to the DOJ press release about the indictment. A short statement by Merrick B. Garland announced the news the same afternoon.
Shortly before Teixeira’s arrest in April 2022, he tried to hide evidence of his crime by destroying his electronic devices and deleting the accounts he used to disclose the information, according to the most recent DOJ press release. Teixeira also encouraged those he shared with to do the same.
Teixeira pleaded guilty to six violations of The Espionage Act, according to his plea agreement. In addition to 15 years in prison with an additional three years of supervised release, Teixeira is also forbidden to have contact with foreign agents.
Access to Top Secret Information Via Job
Teixeira began serving in the Air National Guard in September 2019, according to his indictment. He was stationed at Otis Air National Guard base, where he worked as a cyber defense operations journeyman and held a Top Secret and sensitive compartmented information (SCI) security clearance issued to him in July 2021, which gave him access to classified information.
From January 2022 to April 2023, Teixeira transcribed the text from the classified documents to Discord for others to view, according to the indictment. Teixeira also posted images of classified and Top Secret documents, with some of the photos visibly marked as secret, SCI or Top Secret.
Among the documents shown on the platform was information detailing what equipment was being sent to Ukraine, as well as how it would be transferred and used for the war, according to the indictment.
A Similar Case
The DOJ announced Teixeira’s guilty plea in a press conference on March 6 and stressed the implications of Teixeira’s actions, including damage to the U.S.’s intelligence capabilities, as well as sources and methods of gathering intelligence. The DOJ also explained that leaks put military personnel in danger and strain the U.S.’s relationships with allies who entrust the country with their secrets.
Unfortunately, cases like this are not uncommon. In a similar case covered by The Daily Muck, Sergeant Korbein Schultz, 25, a U.S. Army intelligence analyst, pleaded guilty on Aug. 13 to disclosing military secrets.
Like Teixeira, Schultz held a Top Secret security clearance that he used to gather unauthorized information, according to his indictment. However, Schultz sold the classified information directly to someone he believed to be an employee of the Chinese government in exchange for thousands of dollars.
Schultz is still awaiting his sentencing, scheduled for Jan. 23, 2025, but he could get up to 64 years in prison, according to his most recent DOJ press release.
More From This Author
Business Owner Pollutes Environment for Personal Gain
Report Jessika Saunders | Dec 6, 2024
Final Executive Sentenced in Proposed Nuclear Plant Disaster
Report Jessika Saunders | Dec 5, 2024
Dirty Rotten Lawyer: Attorney Steals Bequeathments Intended for Charity
Report Jessika Saunders | Dec 3, 2024
Weekly Muck
Join the mission and subscribe to our newsletter. In exchange, we promise to fight for justice.
Weekly
Muck
Join the mission and subscribe to our newsletter. In exchange, we promise to fight for justice.
