Jack Teixeira, the guardsman who leaked classified intel on Discord, sentenced to 15 years in prison

Jack Teixeira, the 22-year-old Air National Guardsman who uncovered Pentagon intelligence documents last year has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. Teixeira's was considered one of the worst cases of leaking classified information in recent U.S. history.

After more than a year in court, Jack Teixeira pleaded guilty to posting information related to national defense on an online forum. In March of last year, the young man shared classified documents on a server on Discord, a multichannel messaging and communication platform.

The information that Jack Teixeira disclosed on a forum for military and firearms enthusiasts eventually made its way to a Russian Telegram channel and the content of the documents began to circulate on the internet.

The information pertained to U.S. national defense priorities and geopolitical concerns, including topics related to China, Russia, and Ukraine. It is believed that Teixeira's initial motivation was driven solely by a desire for relevance, influence, and recognition within his online community.

Prosecutors asked U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to sentence Teixeira to 16 and a half years. His defense attorneys asked for an 11-year sentence. In their request for a lenient sentence, Teixeira's lawyers argued that he was subjected to bullying in high school and in his military unit, and had suffered isolation. They claim this led to a mild case of emotional instability which led Texeira to share the information to gain notoriety in other groups.

Teixeira apologized to the court, acknowledging that "all responsibility and consequences rest solely on my shoulders," according to reporters present at the trial, which was held behind closed doors.

The authorities are not only focusing on Teixeira. The military investigation from the previous year found that the Massachusetts Air National Guard chain of command failed to take adequate steps to prevent the leak of documents. As an intelligence unit member, Teixeira would have had the necessary security clearance to access certain materials.

Before his indictment, Teixeira had already been reprimanded by his superiors on at least one occasion. Despite this, he was still granted the certifications required to remain in the intelligence unit.