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Pentagon Jack Teixeira was sentenced to 15 years in prison | Al Jazeera News

Pentagon Jack Teixeira was sentenced to 15 years in prison | Al Jazeera News

Prosecutors had asked for 17 years in prison for “significant” violations of the Espionage Act.

Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts National Guard, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for leaking classified documents about the war in Ukraine and other military secrets.

A federal judge in Boston, United States, sentenced the 22-year-old on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty earlier this year to six counts of withholding and intentionally transmitting national defense information under the Espionage Act.

Prosecutors argued for a 17-year sentence for Teixeira, saying he “committed one of the most significant and significant violations of the Espionage Act in American history.”

“The defendant took an oath to defend the United States and protect its secrets — secrets that are vital to the national security of the United States and the physical safety of Americans serving overseas,” prosecutors wrote. “Teixeira broke his oath almost every day for over a year.”

The breach raised questions about the US’s ability to protect secrets

Teixeira, of North Dighton, Mass., was with the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod.

He worked as a cyber transport systems specialist – essentially an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks.

Authorities said he shared the classified documents on the messaging app Discord.

Teixeira started by writing copies which he then published online.

He later photographed the files, some of which were marked “SECRET” and “TOP SECRET”.

The documents included information about allies and adversaries, including troop movements in Ukraine and top secret information about Israel’s Mossad spy agency. Teixeira also admitted to posting information about a US adversary’s plans to harm US forces serving overseas.

The breach has raised questions about the US’s ability to protect its secrets and embarrassed President Joe Biden’s administration, which has struggled to limit the diplomatic and military fallout.

Teixeira’s lawyers asked for a lighter sentence of 11 years, arguing that their client has no political agenda and is not working as a spy for a foreign government. In the sentencing document, they admitted their client “made a terrible decision which he repeated over 14 months”.

“Instead, his intent was to educate his friends about world events to ensure they were not misled by misinformation,” the lawyers wrote.

“For Jack, the war in Ukraine was his generation’s World War II or Iraq, and he needed someone to share the experience with.”

They noted that Teixeira has never been convicted of a crime before.

But prosecutors countered that Teixeira did not suffer from any intellectual disability that would prevent him from knowing right from wrong, adding that his diagnosis of “mild, high-functioning” autism after his arrest was of “questionable relevance” to the case.

“I wanted to say, ‘I’m sorry’

Teixeira apologized to the court for his actions before he was sentenced by US District Judge Indira Talwani.

“I wanted to say, ‘I’m sorry for all the hurt I brought and caused,'” Texeira said, referring to the “whirlwind” he caused family and friends.

“I understand that all responsibility and consequences fall solely on my shoulders, and I accept whatever that brings,” he said. Teixeira hugged one of his lawyers and looked at his family and smiled before being led out of court.

He cannot be charged with other Espionage Act violations under the terms of his guilty plea.