Several US media outlets, including CNN and the Washington Post newspaper, reported this unanimously on Monday from a hearing at a court in the US state of Massachusetts. Jack Teixeira pleaded not guilty last June.
According to media reports, the 22-year-old has now entered into an agreement with the public prosecutor’s office, under the terms of which he now faces a prison sentence of eleven to 16 years. Teixeira was arrested in April 2023.
Indictment on 6 counts
A federal jury indicted him on six counts of intentionally retaining and disclosing classified information for national defense. According to the Ministry of Justice, he originally faced up to ten years in prison in each of the cases.
Teixeira joined the National Guard in September 2019 and was officially cleared to view top-secret government documents in 2021. From January 2022, the IT specialist is said to have intentionally published information that was classified as “secret” and “top secret” in a closed chat room on the Discord platform, which is popular with video gamers.
From there they spread on the Internet until authorities and the media became aware of them. The leak only became public in spring 2023.
