Jack Teixeira accepts up to 16-year prison sentence for Pentagon leak
Pentagon leak suspect Jack Teixeira agreed to accept a prison sentence of up to 16 years for leaking highly classified Pentagon documents.
The big picture: Prosecutors say the leak exposed sensitive information to the United States’ adversaries, including details about troop movement in Ukraine and an adversary's plans to attack U.S. troops serving abroad.
- Disclosures of this kind “blinds us to threats from hostile nations and terrorist groups,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matt Olsen.
Zoom in: Teixeira, a former Air National guardsman, accepted responsibility for leaking information about the U.S. government's relations with its adversaries and allies.
- Teixeira pleaded guilty to six counts, charging him with "willful retention and transmission of national defense information," according to court documents.
- He's expected to serve between 11 and 16 years in prison, followed by three years of supervision.
- The U.S. attorney agreed not to charge him with further violations of the Espionage Act.
What they’re saying: “Jack Teixeira will never get a sniff of a classified piece of information for the rest of his life,” said Joshua Levy, acting U.S. attorney for the district of Massachusetts.
What's next: Teixeira is expected to participate in a "satisfactory debrief" with intelligence community members, the Defense Department and/or the Justice Department.
- In addition to his prison sentence, Teixeira was fined $50,000.
Context: Teixeira came from a military family and was stationed at the Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts.
- He worked as an IT specialist responsible for military communications networks.
- He shared documents on a Discord server.
Go deeper: Who is Jack Teixeira, the accused Pentagon leaker
Editor's note: This story was updated with details from a press conference.