Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira sentenced to 15 years in prison

Prosecutors sought 17 years imprisonment for ‘significant’ violations of nan Espionage Act.

Jack Teixeira, a personnel of nan Massachusetts National Guard, has been jailed for 15 years for leaking classified documents astir nan warfare successful Ukraine and different subject secrets.

A national judge successful Boston, United States, connected Tuesday sentenced nan 22-year-old aft he pleaded guilty earlier this twelvemonth to six counts of wilful retention and transmission of nationalist defence accusation nether nan Espionage Act.

Prosecutors had based on for a 17-year condemnation for Teixeira, saying he “perpetrated 1 of nan astir important and consequential violations of nan Espionage Act successful American history”.

“The suspect took an oath to take sides nan United States and to protect its secrets – secrets that are captious to US nationalist information and nan beingness information of Americans serving overseas,” prosecutors wrote. “Teixeira violated his oath, almost each day, for complete a year.”

Breach raised questions astir US expertise to protect secrets

Teixeira, from North Dighton, Massachusetts, was portion of nan 102nd Intelligence Wing astatine Otis Air National Guard Base, located connected Cape Cod.

He worked arsenic a cyber-transport systems master – fundamentally an accusation exertion master responsible for subject communications networks.

Authorities said he shared nan classified documents connected nan messaging app Discord.

Teixeira began by typing retired copies that he past published online.

Later, he photographed nan files, immoderate of which bore “SECRET” and “TOP SECRET” markings.

The documents included accusation astir friends and adversaries including unit movements successful Ukraine and apical concealed accusation astir Israel’s Mossad spy agency. Teixeira besides admitted posting accusation astir a US adversary’s plans to harm US forces serving overseas.

The breach raised questions astir nan US’s expertise to protect its secrets and embarrassed nan management of President Joe Biden, which scrambled to incorporate nan negotiated and subject fallout.

Teixeira’s lawyers asked for a lighter condemnation of 11 years, arguing their customer had nary governmental extremity and was not moving arsenic a spy for a overseas government. In their sentencing document, they acknowledged their customer had “made a unspeakable determination which he repeated complete 14 months”.

“Instead, his intent was to amended his friends astir world events to make definite they were not misled by misinformation,” nan lawyers wrote.

“To Jack, nan Ukraine warfare was his generation’s World War II aliases Iraq, and he needed personification to stock nan acquisition with.”

They noted that Teixeira had ne'er been convicted of a crime before.

But prosecutors countered that Teixeira did not suffer from immoderate intelligence disablement that would forestall him from knowing correct from wrong, adding that his post-arrest test of “mild, high-functioning” autism was of “questionable relevance” to nan case.

‘I wanted to say, ‘I americium sorry”

Teixeira apologised to nan tribunal for his actions earlier he was sentenced by nan US District Judge Indira Talwani.

“I wanted to say, ‘I’m sorry for each nan harm that I brought and caused’,” Texeira said referring to nan “maelstrom” he caused family and friends.

“I understand each nan work and consequences autumn upon my shoulders unsocial and judge immoderate that will bring,” he said. Teixeira hugged 1 of his lawyers and looked towards his family and smiled earlier being led retired of court.

He cannot beryllium charged pinch immoderate further Espionage Act violations nether nan position of his blameworthy plea.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies