Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira to be sentenced for violating Espionage Act

Source: CBS News

November 12, 2024 / 6:00 AM EST


Former Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, who admitted he illegally posted sensitive military information to online chat rooms in what prosecutors called one of the "most prolific" and "rare" government leak operations, is set to be sentenced in a Boston courtroom on Tuesday.

Teixeira, a 22-year-old Massachusetts native, pleaded guilty in March to six counts of violating the Espionage Act, acknowledging he was behind the yearlong distribution of dozens of classified government documents — including some marked "top secret" — on Discord, a social media platform. The classified documents involved in the leak touched on a number of sensitive issues, but the most notable were about Russia's war in Ukraine, detailed troop movements and timelines for Western weapons deliveries to the war-torn country, investigators said.

Federal law enforcement arrested Teixeira at his family's Massachusetts home after a weekslong probe into how sensitive Pentagon records were ending up online.

Prosecutors have asked a federal judge to sentence the defendant to 200 months in prison — almost 17 years — for his central role in "one of the most significant and consequential violations of the Espionage Act in American history," one that has prompted reforms in the handling of classified information. "The harm the defendant caused to the national security from his disclosures of national defense information is extraordinary," prosecutors wrote in an October court filing.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pentagon-leaker-jack-teixeira-sentencing/