Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira accepts 16-year prison sentence after admitting he released secret military docs on Russia-Ukraine war

Baby-faced Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira copped a plea deal Monday that would land him 16 years behind bars for committing one of the most serious national security breaches in years.

The former Massachusetts Air National guardsman, 22, entered federal court in Boston, Mass., shackled and dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit and nodded to his family before the proceeding, according to a Washington Post reporter on X. https://twitter.com/shaneharris/status/1764682508283547797

Teixiera then pleaded guilty to all six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information against him — charges that could have landed him up to 60 years in prison. 

He was arrested in April for allegedly abusing his security clearance to post top-secret Pentagon documents on the gaming app Discord, according to court documents reviewed by The New York Post.

Among the data he was accused of releasing to the general public were detailed intelligence assessments of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including “how the equipment would be transferred, and how the equipment would be used upon receipt,” according to a federal indictment.

As part of Teixeira’s plea deal, the former guardsman agreed to accept a 16-year prison sentence, although a federal judge was set to ultimately decide whether to go with that amount or a minimum of 11 years, as the leaker’s pact with prosecutors specifies, according to ABC News.

Teixiera had faced up to 60 years behind bars if he had gone to trial and been convicted of all the charges against him, the outlet said, 

In addition to the lower prison sentence, he also be charged a $50,000 fine and face three years of supervised release once he gets out of federal prison.

He was also ordered to have a debrief with members of the Department of Defense and the Justice Department and to return any national security documents that may still be in his possession, according to the court documents.

Additionally, he agreed “that he has a continuing legal obligation to refrain from the unauthorized oral or written disclosure of classified information, or information relating to the national defense,” the plea deal reads.

In exchange, federal prosecutors agreed not to charge Teixera with additional crimes under the Espionage Act.

Teixeira was arrested after the classified documents he leaked started to spread online.

He had enlisted in the US Air National Guard in 2019 — and despite being a low-level airman was granted top-secret security clearance in 2021, according to the Justice Department.

During that time, Teixeira worked as a cyber transport systems journeyman for the 102nd Intelligence Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard.

He was stationed at Otis Air National Guard Base in Cape Cod when he began posting classified documents online in January 2022, the DOJ said.

The leak was considered the most serious national security breach since 700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables were published on WikiLeaks in 2010.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the information Teixeira posted online “reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to national security if shared.”

By December, 15 members of the 102nd Intelligence Wing, including his former unit commander, were also disciplined for failing to supervise him and neglecting to inform authorities about his espionage-like behavior.

With Post Wires