BOSTON — A federal choose on Tuesday sentenced a Massachusetts Air Nationwide Guard member to fifteen years in jail after he pleaded responsible to leaking extremely labeled army paperwork concerning the struggle in Ukraine.
Jack Teixeira pleaded responsible earlier this yr to 6 counts of willful retention and transmission of nationwide protection data underneath the Espionage Act following his arrest in probably the most consequential nationwide safety case in years. Introduced into court docket sporting an orange jumpsuit, he confirmed no seen response as he was sentenced by U.S. District Choose Indira Talwani.
Earlier than being sentenced, he apologized for his actions.
“I wished to say I’m sorry for all of the hurt that I introduced and triggered,” Texeira stated, referencing the “maelstrom” he triggered to pals, household anybody affected abroad. “I perceive all of the accountability and penalties fall upon my shoulders alone and settle for no matter that may convey,” he stated, standing as he addressed the choose.
Afterward, Teixeira hugged one among his attorneys and seemed in the direction of his household and smiled earlier than he was led out of the court docket.
The safety breach raised alarm over America’s potential to guard its most carefully guarded secrets and techniques and compelled the Biden administration to scramble to attempt to include the diplomatic and army fallout. The leaks embarrassed the Pentagon, which tightened controls to safeguard labeled data and disciplined members discovered to have deliberately didn’t take required motion about Teixeira’s suspicious conduct.
Earlier in Tuesday’s listening to, Assistant U.S. Legal professional Jared Dolan argued that 200 months — or a little bit greater than 16 1/2 years – was acceptable given the “historic” harm brought on by Teixeira’s conduct that aided adversaries of america and harm the nation’s allies. He additionally stated that advice by prosecutors would ship a message to anybody within the army who would possibly take into account comparable conduct.
“Will probably be a cautionary story for the women and men within the U.S. army,” Dolan stated. “They will be informed that is what occurs should you break your promise, should you betray your nation … They’ll know the defendant’s identify. They’ll know the sentence the court docket imposes.”
However Teixeira’s lawyer Michael Bachrach informed the choose in court docket Tuesday that 11 years was ample.
“It’s a important, harsh and tough sentence, one that won’t be straightforward to serve,” Bachrach stated. “It is going to function an excessive deterrent to anybody notably younger servicemen. That is sufficient to preserve them deterred from committing critical conduct.”
Teixeira, of North Dighton, Massachusetts, had pleaded responsible in March to 6 counts of the willful retention and transmission of nationwide protection data underneath the Espionage Act. That got here almost a yr after he was arrested in probably the most consequential nationwide safety leak in years.
The 22-year-old admitted that he illegally collected a number of the nation’s most delicate secrets and techniques and shared them with different customers on the social media platform Discord.
When Teixeira pleaded responsible, prosecutors stated they’d search a jail time period on the excessive finish of the sentencing vary. However the protection wrote of their sentencing memorandum earlier that the 11 years is a “critical and sufficient to account for deterrence concerns and can be primarily equal to half the life that Jack has lived so far.”
His attorneys described Teixeira as an autistic, remoted particular person who spent most of his time on-line, particularly along with his Discord group. They stated his actions, although prison, have been by no means meant to “hurt america.” He additionally had no prior prison report.
“As a substitute, his intent was to teach his pals about world occasions to make sure they weren’t misled by misinformation,” the attorneys wrote. “To Jack, the Ukraine struggle was his technology’s World Struggle II or Iraq, and he wanted somebody to share the expertise with.”
Prosecutors, although, had countered that Teixeira doesn’t endure from an mental incapacity that forestalls him from realizing proper from improper. They argued that Teixeira’s post-arrest analysis as having “gentle, high-functioning” autism “is of questionable relevance in these proceedings.”
Teixeira, who was a part of the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air Nationwide Guard Base in Massachusetts, labored as a cyber transport methods specialist, which is basically an data expertise specialist chargeable for army communications networks. He stays within the Air Nationwide Guard in an unpaid standing, an Air Drive official stated.
Authorities stated he first typed out labeled paperwork he accessed after which started sharing images of recordsdata that bore SECRET and TOP SECRET markings. Prosecutors additionally stated he tried to cowl his tracks earlier than his arrest, and authorities discovered a smashed pill, laptop computer and an Xbox gaming console in a dumpster at his home.
The leak uncovered to the world unvarnished secret assessments of Russia’s struggle in Ukraine, together with details about troop actions in Ukraine, and the supply of provides and tools to Ukrainian troops. Teixeira additionally admitted posting details about a U.S. adversary’s plans to hurt U.S. forces serving abroad.
