By Michael Casey | Related Press
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 navy paperwork in regards to the warfare in Ukraine.
Jack Teixeira pleaded responsible earlier this yr to 6 counts of willful retention and transmission of nationwide protection info below 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 Decide 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 induced,” Teixeira stated, referencing the “maelstrom” he induced. “I perceive all of the duty and penalties fall upon my shoulders alone and settle for no matter that can convey,” he stated, standing as he addressed the choose.
Afterward, Teixeira hugged one in all his attorneys and appeared in the direction of his household and smiled earlier than being led out of court docket.
The safety breach raised alarm over America’s capacity to guard its most carefully guarded secrets and techniques and compelled the Biden administration to scramble to attempt to include the diplomatic and navy fallout. The leaks embarrassed the Pentagon, which tightened controls to safeguard labeled info and disciplined members discovered to have deliberately didn’t take required motion about Teixeira’s suspicious conduct.
Performing U.S. Legal professional Joshua Levy, talking at a post-sentencing information convention, stated Teixeira “has paid a really heavy value for the legal guidelines he broke and the broken he induced.”
He added that Teixeira violated his place of belief and repeatedly made the “deliberate alternative” to reveal labeled info week after week. “He was callous to the truth that he put our nationwide safety in danger,” Levy added, warning the sentence stands as a deterrent to any who may consider leaking nationwide secrets and techniques.
“Anybody who willfully threatens nationwide safety by illegally disseminating labeled info will face critical repercussions,” he stated.
Earlier in court docket, Assistant U.S. Legal professional Jared Dolan informed Talwani that 200 months — or just a little greater than 16 1/2 years – was acceptable given the “historic” harm attributable to Teixeira’s conduct that aided adversaries of the US and damage the nation’s allies. He additionally stated that suggestion by prosecutors would ship a message to anybody within the navy who may contemplate comparable conduct.
“It will likely be a cautionary story for the women and men within the U.S. navy,” Dolan stated. “They’re going to be informed that is what occurs in case you break your promise, in case you betray your nation … They may know the defendant’s identify. They may know the sentence the court docket imposes.”
However Teixeira’s legal professional Michael Bachrach informed the choose Tuesday that 11 years was enough.
“It’s a important, harsh and troublesome sentence, one that won’t be straightforward to serve,” Bachrach stated. “It is going to function an excessive deterrent to anybody, significantly younger servicemen. That is sufficient to maintain 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 info below 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 among 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 “can be primarily equal to half the life that Jack has lived up to now.”
His attorneys had 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 the US.” He additionally had no prior prison document.
“As a substitute, his intent was to coach his mates about world occasions to make sure they weren’t misled by misinformation,” the attorneys wrote. “To Jack, the Ukraine warfare was his technology’s World Conflict II or Iraq, and he wanted somebody to share the expertise with.”
Prosecutors in court docket filings countered that Teixeira didn’t endure from any mental incapacity that will stop him from realizing proper from unsuitable, including his post-arrest analysis of “gentle, high-functioning” autism was of “questionable relevance” to the 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 info expertise specialist answerable for navy communications networks. He stays within the Air Nationwide Guard in an unpaid standing, an Air Pressure 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 warfare 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.
