BETRAYED HIS OATH
Jack Teixeira gets 15-year sentence for posting classified military docs on Discord in ‘worst US security leak in years’
The Discord group members acknowledged Teixeira as 'O.G.'
AN Air National Guardsman who admitted to leaking highly classified Pentagon documents on a social media group chat has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Jack Teixeira was responsible for one of the most "significant and consequential violations of the Espionage Act" in US history when he shared top secret government documents with other users on Discord in April 2023, prosecutors said.
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Teixeira learned his fate on Tuesday, months after he pleaded guilty to six counts of willfully retaining and leaking national defense information under the Espionage Act in March.
The 22-year-old was escorted into the US District Court in Boston wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and smiled at his family before he sat at the defense table, according to Fox affiliate .
Federal prosecutors said Teixeira "understood the risk to his country and did it anyway."
Teixeira apologized to the court before his sentencing was imposed.
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"I'm sorry for all the harm that I have brought and I have caused," he told Judge Indira Talwani.
"All of the responsibilities and consequences fall on my shoulders.”
Judge Talwani sentenced Teixeira to 15 years, saying that despite his extensive training in handling classified documents and the warning of criminal penalties, he still "posted on the internet hundreds of documents over the period of a year.
"You are young, and you have a future ahead of you, but it is such a serious crime."
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'A PERFECT STORM'
Federal prosecutors sought to set an example out of Teixeira and asked the judge for a maximum 17-year sentence.
"Jack Teixeira will be a cautionary tale for anyone in US government or military that if you do this, this is what will happen to you if you betray your oath. They will know his name," prosecutors said.
FBI make arrest over top-secret Pentagon files leak as US Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, 21, named as suspect
"His conduct and his offenses are unparalleled in breadth, in-depth, and in quality of the information."
Meanwhile, Teixeira's defense team fought for an 11-year punishment, saying the airman accepted responsibility and his actions were the result of "a perfect storm."
"Teixeira is trying to find a shared community. He wasn’t trying to harm the US government. It’s a function of his youth," defense attorney Michael Bachrach said, according to WFXT.
"This was a perfect storm. He had no friends. Then he was isolated in Covid. Finds friends [and] finally gets a sense of belonging."
Teixeira, who at the time was a member of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in , worked as a cyber transport system specialist and had security clearance to highly classified military documents.
He is still in the Air National Guard on an unpaid status, per , but will be tried at a military tribunal next year that will ultimately determine whether he remains in the military.
PENTAGON DOCUMENTS LEAKED
Months before Teixeira's arrest, Pentagon officials became aware of classified documents circulating on in December 2022, sparking an investigation to uncover the source of the leak.
The documents included sensitive information about the support the provided in its ongoing military efforts against .
The information contained details about the US and NATO's plans to help Ukraine prepare ahead of a spring 2023 offensive against Russia and suggested had secretly launched a 6,500 mph hypersonic missile that could beat American defense systems.
Some documents also alleged that Russian President was undergoing chemotherapy treatment and detailed how a British spy plane narrowly avoided being shot down by the Russians due to a missile malfunction.
The leak was eventually traced back to a Discord chat of gamers titled Thug Shaker Central, a group of about 20 to 30 young men and boys.
The oddball Discord group bonded over their love of guns, offensive jokes, and video games after the world went into lockdown during the pandemic.
Members described the group as a ";tight-knit family," according to the .
Several members confirmed to at the time that a friend sent the military documents, some of which eventually made their way to a pro-Russian Telegram channel.
Guys, it's been good. I love you all. I never wanted it to get like this. I prayed to God that this would never happen.
Jack Teixeira
At first, Teixeira shared typed texts before sending full pictures of actual Pentagon papers with "SECRET" and "TOP SECRET" markings, according to an affidavit.
Investigators said Teixeira switched his tactic after becoming fearful of potentially being "discovered making the transcriptions of text in the workplace."
Teixeira was described as the "O.G." and older than most of the people in the group.
Members said the airman "kept them in the loop" about the government's plans.
FBI RAID TEIXEIRA'S HOME
After being identified as the leaker, Teixeira surrendered to officials when dozens of heavily armed agents swarmed his mother, Dawn Dufault's property in North Dighton, Massachusetts, about 20 miles east of Providence.
Aerial footage of the arrest showed Teixeira, dressed in red basketball shorts and an olive T-shirt, slowly stepping backward to federal agents with his hands behind his head.
Teixeira was immediately handcuffed before he was placed in the back of an armored vehicle.
Moments before federal agents arrived at his home, Teixeira frantically joined a call with his Discord pals and told them, "Guys, it's been good - I love you all," The New York Times reported at the time.
"I never wanted it to get like this. I prayed to God that this would never happen.
"And I prayed and prayed and prayed. Only God can decide what happens from now on," Teixeira added.
Teixeira told his fellow group members to delete the chat and "if anyone asks anything, don't say s**t."
In Teixeira's bedroom that he shared in his mother and stepfather's house, officials uncovered a gun locker just two feet from Teixeira's bed, according to court documents.
Officials discovered several handguns, a gas mask, and bolt-action rifles inside the locker.
FBI agents also found ammunition pouches on his dresser and a military-style helmet in a dumpster.
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In a dumpster near his home, law enforcement officials found a laptop, tablet, and gaming console, all of which were smashed up.
Meanwhile, in his bedroom at his father's house, the walls were decorated with camouflaged print and paper shooting targets.
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