A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a Massachusetts Air National Guard member to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to leaking highly classified military documents about the war in Ukraine. Airman Jack Teixeira to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act following his arrest in the most consequential national security case in years. The 22-year-old showed no visible reaction as he was sentenced by US District Judge Indira Talwani, the reports.
Earlier in the hearing, he apologized before the judge. "I'm sorry for all the harm that I've wrought and that I've caused," Teixeira said, per the . "I understand all the responsibility and consequences falls on my shoulders alone.
And I accept whatever that may bring." He has been held without bail since his arrest in April 2023. Prosecutors had originally requested a 17-year sentence for Teixeira, saying he "perpetrated one of the most significant and consequential violations of the Espionage Act in American history.
" Defense attorneys had sought an 11-year sentence. They acknowledged that their client "made a terrible decision which he repeated over 14 months," But they argued that Teixeira's actions, though criminal, were never meant to "harm the United States." His attorneys described Teixeira as an autistic, isolated individual who spent most of his time online, especially with his Discord community.
His intent, they said, "was to educate his friends about w.