Ex-US Air National Guard Jack Teixeira Sentenced to 16 Years for Leaking Classified Military Information

The 22-year-old Jack Teixeira has agreed to accept a 16-year prison sentence on Monday, March 4, 2024. Jack Teixeira was charged with leaking highly confidential and classified information about the US military on Discord, a social media platform, to fellow gamers.

Teixeira was a member of the Air National Guard of Massachusetts.

He has acknowledged pleading guilty to a total of 6 counts of charges against him.

ABC News reported that the charges include the transfer of information related to national defense and the willful retention of the same, as mentioned in a signed court filing.

Teixeira’s plea agreement specifies that Jack Teixeira must return any highly confidential and sensitive documents in his possession, if he has any, to the US Department of Justice and Department of Defense.

Jack Teixeira: In The Custody

It should be noted that Jack Teixeira was taken into custody in April 2023. He was apprehended in North Dighton, Massachusetts, at his mother’s house, as reported by BBC.

Jack gained attention when he leaked the confidential and secret records of internal security and international affairs on a Discord messaging app to a group of gamers.

The incident occurred in 2021 when Jack was working at Otis Air National Guard Base with the rank of airman 1st class as a “cyber defense operations journeyman.”

Teixeira leaked reports that included highly confidential and classified information on military documents concerning the Russian Arctic struggle, Chinese interests in Nicaragua, Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, South Korea’s ammunition concerns, Ukraine’s air defenses, and many more.

Allegedly, Jack Teixeira leaked the classified information to impress the gamers in the chat group. Thus, this leak is regarded as one of the most devastating breaches in the history of US national security.

When Jack Teixeira was arrested, Sean Riley, the commanding officer of the unit, was also removed from his position. Fourteen other enlisted personnel and officers were reprimanded by the Air National Guard.

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