Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who leaked classified military documents and other secrets related to the Russia-Ukraine war in the most significant leak in years, pleaded guilty Monday, The Washington Post reported.
Teixeira, 22, accepted a maximum sentence of 16 years in prison after appearing in federal court in Boston and pleading guilty to all six counts of maintaining and transmitting classified national defense information. In exchange for her guilty plea, prosecutors agreed not to further charge her with violating the Espionage Act.
Mr. Teixeira also agreed to attend debriefings with members of the intelligence community, the Department of Defense, or the Department of Justice, and to hand over any classified material he may still have.
Teixeira, a resident of North Dighton, Massachusetts, has been in custody since his arrest on April 13, 2023, on suspicion of leaking vast amounts of military secrets online.
Who is Jack Teixeira, the Air National Guard agent behind the leak of classified documents?
An undated selfie of Jack Teixeira, a 22-year-old National Guard aviator charged with leaking classified military documents. (Facebook)
Teixeira was assigned to the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts, where he worked as a “cyber transportation systems specialist.” He held the highest level of security clearance granted by the federal government for top secret information.
Courtroom sketch from April 14, 2023. It depicts Jack Douglas Teixeira making his first appearance before a federal judge in Boston. (Reuters/Margaret Small)
Pentagon document leak has immediate national security implications: Breathing in ‘a lot of oxygen’
Authorities said Teixeira began sharing classified documents on the online social platform Discord with a private group called Thug Shaker Central, which was made up of about 20 to 30 young people.
The leaked documents primarily concern Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but also include information about China, the Middle East, Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, and world leaders.
One member of the group told the New York Times that during the conversation, Teixeira seemed resigned to his fate. He said Teixeira “never wanted this to happen. I prayed to God that this would never happen. And I prayed and prayed and prayed. It’s up to God to decide what happens.” Only,” he said.
Click to get the FOX News app
Teixeira had previously pleaded not guilty to six counts of knowingly retaining and transmitting national defense information under the Espionage Act.
