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 labeled paperwork in regards to the warfare 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 12 months to 6 counts of wilful retention and transmission of nationwide defence data beneath the Espionage Act.
Prosecutors had argued for a 17-year sentence for Teixeira, saying he “perpetrated one of the crucial vital and consequential violations of the Espionage Act in American historical past”.
“The defendant took an oath to defend america and to guard its secrets and techniques – secrets and techniques which are very important to US nationwide safety and the bodily security of Individuals serving abroad,” prosecutors wrote. “Teixeira violated his oath, nearly each day, for over a 12 months.”
Breach raised questions on US capacity to guard secrets and techniques
Teixeira, from North Dighton, Massachusetts, was a part of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air Nationwide Guard Base, situated on Cape Cod.
He labored as a cyber-transport methods specialist – basically an data know-how specialist chargeable for navy communications networks.
Authorities stated he shared the labeled 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 high 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 in regards to the US’s capacity 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 international authorities. Of their sentencing doc, they acknowledged their shopper had “made a horrible choice which he repeated over 14 months”.
“As an alternative, his intent was to teach his buddies about world occasions to make sure they weren’t misled by misinformation,” the attorneys wrote.
“To Jack, the Ukraine warfare was his era’s World Warfare 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 figuring out proper from unsuitable, including that his post-arrest prognosis of “delicate, high-functioning” autism was of “questionable relevance” to the case.
‘I needed to say, ‘I’m sorry”
Teixeira apologised to the courtroom for his actions earlier than he was sentenced by the US District Choose Indira Talwani.
“I needed to say, ‘I’m sorry for all of the hurt that I introduced and brought about’,” Texeira stated referring to the “maelstrom” he brought about household and buddies.
“I perceive all of the duty and penalties fall upon my shoulders alone and settle for no matter that may deliver,” he stated. Teixeira hugged considered one of his attorneys and regarded in the direction of his household and smiled earlier than being led out of courtroom.
He can’t be charged with any additional Espionage Act violations beneath the phrases of his responsible plea.
