Classified-documents leaker Jack Teixeira is sentenced to 15 years in prison
Summary
The former Air National Guardsman was accused of exposing details of American surveillance of adversaries and allies.
Jack Teixeira, a former Massachusetts Air National Guardsman, was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison over an extraordinary leak of highly classified intelligence documents that sent the U.S. government rushing to protect its secrets.
Teixeira, 22, was accused of exposing details of American surveillance of adversaries and allies on the social-media platform Discord, sparking diplomatic tension with some U.S. partners and raising concern about undermining Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of Boston’s Federal Bureau of Investigation office, called Teixeira one of the most prolific leakers of classified information in American history.
“His actions compromised military plans, sources and methods," Cohen said at a news conference Tuesday after the sentencing.
A lawyer for Teixeira didn’t respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Teixeira was first charged in April 2023. He was indicted that June by a federal grand jury in Boston on six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information.
Prosecutors alleged that Teixeira started sharing material online in 2022. They also alleged that he worked to conceal the scope of the material he obtained and with whom he shared it.
Teixeira pleaded guilty in March 2024, after previously pleading not guilty.
“This is an important day for our country, for our armed services, for our intelligence community," Joshua Levy, the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said Tuesday at the news conference. “This significant sentence sends a powerful message to every individual who holds a top-secret clearance."
The service record for Teixeira, who is from Dighton, Mass., indicated that he served as a junior Air Force communications specialist at a Cape Cod base. At the time of his arrest, he held the rank of airman first class. He had been with the Massachusetts Air National Guard since 2019.
Write to Victoria Albert at victoria.albert@wsj.com and Joseph Pisani at joseph.pisani@wsj.com
