(BrightPress.org) – Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira pleaded guilty to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information during a court appearance on March 4th. As part of a plea bargain, Teixeira withdrew his original not-guilty plea in exchange for prosecutors agreeing to not press additional charges under the Espionage Act. Under the terms of the deal, Teixeira could be sentenced from 11 to 16 years in prison.
Twenty-two-year-old Teixeira allegedly used his top-level security clearance to gain access to highly classified documents and shared them by posting the information in a Discord chat room under the online alias “theexcalibereffect” while attempting to purposefully conceal his actions. He accessed the documents while working as a lower-level cyber defense operations journeyman, even after his superiors warned him to “stop digging” into highly classified information.
The documents leaked by Teixeira contained information on allies and adversaries, including details on operations in Ukraine, and undisclosed information on Israel’s Mossad spy agency. As part of the plea bargain, Teixeira must disclose to officials the entirety of the information that was leaked.
Judge Indira Talwani is presiding over the case and has scheduled a hearing in September to confirm or deny the plea bargain. If she agrees to the deal, Teixeira could spend anywhere from 11 years to 16 years behind bars. Teixeira could serve as many as 60 years if the judge does not accept the deal and the Justice Department adds additional charges.
Attorney for Teixeira, Michael K. Bachrach said his client is “very much a kid” and will establish how Teixeria’s youth played a “substantial role” in his reckless behavior. Bachrach intends to push for a lighter sentence.
Prosecutors claim to believe Teixeira shared the information online to impress other members of the chat group. An unidentified senior federal law enforcement official stated that the government would not have agreed to a reduced sentence if they believed Teixeira’s motive for the leak had been more heinous.
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