Pentagon Discord leaker gets 15 years in prison

Jack Teixeira sentenced to 15 years for Pentagon leaks

Teixeira posted classified information on the social media app nearly every day for more than a year

(Image credit: Stefani Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images)

published 13 November 2024

What happened

A federal judge in Boston Tuesday sentenced Jack Teixeira, a Massachusetts Air National Guard member who leaked classified military documents on Discord, to 15 years in prison. Teixeira, 22, was arrested in April 2023 and pleaded guilty in March to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act. Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston office, called Teixeira "one of the most prolific leakers of classified information in American history."

Teixeira posted classified information on the social media app Discord nearly every day for more than a year, Cohen said after Tuesday's sentencing hearing. He "grossly betrayed our country and the oath he took to safeguard its secrets in order to boost his ego and impress his friends," and the "exceptionally grave damage he caused will impact our national security for decades to come." The documents Teixeira shared included secret information on how the U.S. transported military equipment to Ukraine and how it would be used, and reports on Russian and Ukrainian troop movements that may have compromised America's intelligence-gathering methods.

The case "raised questions over how easily a relatively low-level member of the guard" had accessed "some of the country's most sensitive secrets," The New York Times said. In the subsequent investigation, The Washington Post said, military officials "disciplined at least 15 people after finding that a 'lack of supervision' and a 'culture of complacency' had permitted Teixeira to sneak photographs of classified information out of his workplace" even after colleagues "raised concerns after he was observed looking up government secrets to which his military job did not require access."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.