A federal judge sentenced Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to leaking classified U.S. military assessments about the war in Ukraine.
Judge Indira Talwani issued the 15-year sentence at a Nov. 12 court hearing.
Teixeira offered an apology before being sentenced.
“I wanted to say I’m sorry for all the harm that I brought and caused,” Texeira said.
“I understand all the responsibility and consequences fall upon my shoulders alone and accept whatever that will bring,” he added.
Prior to his sentencing, Teixeira’s attorneys described him as an autistic and isolated individual who spent most of his time online. They said his actions, though criminal, were never meant to “harm the United States.”
Prosecutors countered that Teixeira didn’t suffer from any intellectual disability that would prevent him from knowing right from wrong. Prosecutors said Teixeira’s post-arrest diagnosis of “mild, high-functioning” autism was of “questionable relevance” to the proceedings.
Teixeira’s attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times following the sentencing decision.
Investigators said Teixeira first typed out classified documents he had accessed and then began taking photographs of the files, which bore “SECRET” and “TOP SECRET” markings.
The documents eventually found their way to a Discord server, and then other platforms such as X, Telegram, and the 4Chan message board website.
Some of the documents posted online appeared to describe military equipment donated to Ukraine’s military by the United States and other nations. Other documents appeared to reference training timelines for Ukrainian forces and casualty assessments and equipment losses in its war with Russia.
