National Guard Discord leaker sentenced to 15 years in prison

After pleading guilty successful March to six counts of willful retention and transmission of nationalist defense accusation nether the Espionage Act, erstwhile Air National Guard personnel Jack Teixeira was sentenced coming to 15 years successful prison for posting “hundreds of pages” of classified subject documents connected Discord.

Some of the leaked accusation included delicate details astir unit movements successful Ukraine and antecedently chartless accusation astir US intelligence gathering connected different countries for illustration China, Russia, and South Korea.

While stationed astatine an aerial guidelines successful Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Teixeira was granted a Top-Secret//Sensitive Compartmented Information information clearance basal for “maintaining and troubleshooting” classified workstations successful the intelligence wing. According to the DOJ, he “used a unafraid workstation astatine the Otis USANG Base to behaviour hundreds of searches for classified documents containing NDI that were unrelated to his duties.”

The 22-year-old Teixeira was arrested past twelvemonth aft authorities recovered that he posted classified accusation connected a backstage Discord server called “Thug Shaker Central” pinch astir 20 progressive users, according to Bellingcat.

At first, he shared typed-up versions of the classified documents but later posted existent photographs of the materials — including immoderate branded “Top Secret” — aft different organization members didn’t salary capable attraction to his posts. The New York Times reported that a way of integer evidence, including a unique shape connected a granite countertop successful his puerility home, linked Teixeira to the leaked material.

“Mr. Teixeira is responsible for engaging successful 1 of the astir important leaks of classified documents and accusation successful United States history, which resulted successful exceptionally sedate and long-lasting harm to the nationalist information of the United States,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy for the District of Massachusetts said successful a statement.