An American soldier who leaked classified information online has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. 22-year-old Jack Teixeira had made a deal and pleaded guilty because otherwise he risked a much longer sentence.
Teixeira was part of the Air National Guard and worked at a base in Massachusetts. Although he did not have a high rank, he was given access to top secret information. Prosecutors say Teixeira reviewed hundreds of classified documents on a variety of topics, including the war in Ukraine. The soldier then also shared information via chat service Discord, where, according to prosecutors, he bragged that he had access to data about “Israel, Palestine, Syria, Iran and China.”
Authorities arrested Teixeira last year. His lawyers had asked the judge in Boston to impose a prison sentence of up to 11 years. They stated that their client regrets his actions and had no bad intentions. He is said to have only intended to teach internet friends about world events, such as the Ukraine war. Teixeira called that conflict “probably the most important event of my generation” during an interrogation.