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Jack Teixeira convicted of leaking Pentagon documents on Discord

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(This story has been updated to accurately reflect the most current information.)

BOSTON – Former National Guardsman and Dighton native Jack Teixeira was sentenced to 15 years in prison in what prosecutors called “one of the most significant and consequential violations of the Espionage Act in American history.”

Teixeira had a top secret security clearance and posted classified information obtained through his role in the U.S. military on the chat application Discord. Teixeira shared, among other things, information about troop movements in Ukraine.

He pleaded guilty to six counts of intentionally storing and transmitting national defense information. The prosecution demanded a prison sentence of 200 months or almost 17 years, while the defense only asked for 132 months or 11 years.

Teixeira joined the National Guard in 2019

Teixeira entered the service in 2019 and served as a Cyber ​​Defense Operations Journeyman with the 102d Intelligence Wing in Cape Cod.

“His primary duty was to troubleshoot the classified workstations that his fellow Airmen used to carry out the 102d’s intelligence mission,” prosecutors wrote. “Because this duty would require the disclosure of confidential information, Teixeira was granted a top-secret intelligence clearance.”

The FBI arrested Teixeira in April 2023 and he was indicted by a grand jury in May 2023. He pleaded guilty in March 2024.

Teixeira apologizes in court.

Teixeira appeared at his sentencing hearing wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and expressed remorse for his actions.

“I’m sorry for all the harm I’ve caused,” he said.

Teixeira asked the judge to take age and autism diagnosis into account

According to a sentencing memorandum filed by Teixeira's attorney, he had autism and shared information with his friends on Discord “to educate his friends about world events and to ensure that they were not misled by misinformation.”

“He is autistic and was isolated,” Teixeira’s attorney wrote. “His world was online – playing video games, posting memes and making deep friendships he was never able to make in high school. He had just turned 20 when he started sharing classified information with his friends on Discord, and was only 21 when he was arrested.”

The defense attorney asked the judge to impose a prison sentence of 132 months or 11 years.

Teixeira was diagnosed with ADHD in first grade, his attorney said. His lawyer also said Teixeira was undiagnosed with autism and had shown many symptoms of autism from a young age.

“Jack’s brain development directly impacted his ability to control, regulate and understand his own behavior, particularly when compounded by the unique characteristics of his previously undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder,” his attorney wrote.

Teixeira “fully understood that his actions were unlawful,” the government says

In the government's sentencing memorandum, prosecutors said Teixeira received training on classified information and signed non-disclosure agreements on classified information.

In his Discord messages, Teixeira acknowledged that sharing confidential information could result in criminal consequences, the government said.

The government also said Teixeira's autism was not a relevant factor for the judge. The government said that while Teixeira was diagnosed with autism after his arrest, “the post-arrest diagnosis of mild, high-functioning disorder (autism spectrum disorder) is of questionable significance in these proceedings.”

“Teixeira has undergone several psychological evaluations throughout his life prior to this case, none of which resulted in an ASD diagnosis,” prosecutors wrote. “A diagnosis of autism clearly does not change the nature of the offense, does not relieve Teixeira of responsibility for his criminal behavior, or does it even mitigate his behavior in any meaningful way.”

Why did Jack Teixeira leak documents?

The government's sentencing memo said Teixeira shared confidential information “on the social media platform Discord to feed his own ego and impress his anonymous friends.”

In the defendant's verdict, the motivation is interpreted differently.

“His intention was never to harm the United States. Instead, he wanted to educate his friends about world events to ensure they weren't being misled by misinformation. For Jack, the Ukraine War was the Second World War or the Iraq of his generation, and he.” “I needed someone with whom I could share my experience,” the defendant's verdict read.

What did Jack Teixeira leak?

According to USA Today, the leaks revealed embarrassing secrets and analysis from across the U.S. intelligence community surrounding Russia's war in Ukraine and North Korea's race to develop nuclear weapons.

The classified documents shared with Discord revealed the work of bodies such as the National Security Agency, the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, law enforcement agencies and the top-secret National Reconnaissance Office, which operates America's spy satellites.

Rate is based on a variety of factors

In sentencing Teixeira to 15 years, the judge considered a number of factors, including his age and lack of a criminal record, she said.

She also commented on the apparent lack of security measures that allowed Teixeira to uninterruptedly reveal important national security secrets.

“The fact that others didn’t do more to stop you is truly regrettable,” the judge said at Teixeira’s sentencing.

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