Jack Teixeira accepts up to 16-year prison sentence for Pentagon leak
Published Date: 3/4/2024
Source: axios.com

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.