A former Air National Guard member who stole classified US military secrets and showed them to his gaming friends on Discord has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Jack Teixeira, 22, joined the service in September 2019 and, until his arrest last year, served in the 102nd Intelligence Wing as a cyber defense operations journeyman at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts.

After settling into his role, he began looking at material above his intelligence rating level and then sharing it through the chat app. The material included US and NATO plans to support Ukraine, information about British and US personnel helping the Ukrainians and details of a Chinese drone program.

“The documents and information posted by Teixeira on social media are highly classified and contain vital national defense information,” prosecutors said. he wrote (PDF) in a memo to the courts regarding their preferred punishment for Teixeira.

“By posting intelligence products on the social media platform Discord to feed his own ego and impress his anonymous friends, Teixeira caused exceptionally serious damage to the national security of the United States. The scale of his betrayal is staggering. The amount of damage it caused. it is immeasurable.”

Teixeira admitted to investigators that he saw and stole secrets during the day, looking up and jotting down juicy details and smuggling them in from the base to share online. Later, he simply printed out classified files using “an isolated and rarely used printer,” prosecutors noted.

When not at work, Teixeira was an avid gamer and ran his own Discord server with about 25 members. It was apparently not a terribly fun place – the group regularly discussed mass murder, talked about committing assassinations and “killing the weak-minded”, courts were told. Eventually, Teixeira began posting snippets of classified government information as a way of bragging.

He knew this was illegal because, as part of his regular training, he had signed various documents in which he understood the classification rules and potential penalties. He even joked on Discord. On March 15, 2022, an associate of Teixeira asked if he could post information regarding troop losses in Ukraine. Teixeira replied: “If I want to go to prison for the rest of my life, yes.”

When one of the Discord group also brought up his military oath, Teixeira was dismissive, writing, “Not an oath, an NDA… The oath is just to defend America against any threats and follow orders,” according to the FBI affidavit. special agent luke church.

The game started when some documents started appearing elsewhere online – first in other Discord groups, then 4chan, and then beyond. Worse yet, he seemed to have been alteredwith one version exaggerating expected Ukrainian deaths and underestimating Russian losses.

As the media picked up on the leaks, Teixeira grew nervous. He told everyone to delete any material they had before shutting down the server and deleting their account. He then smashed his hard drives and other computer equipment – ​​some of which was found in a bin behind his house. His arrest he came in April 2023 after Discord handed him the address.

He has since then PASSED six counts of withholding and intentionally transmitting classified information relating to national defense. On Tuesday, a federal court in Boston sentenced the 22-year-old to 15 years in prison, plus three years of probation.

“This sentence is a stark warning to all those entrusted with protecting national defense information: betray that trust and you will be held accountable.” declared FBI Director Christopher Wray.

“Jack Teixeira’s criminal conduct has placed our nation, our troops and our allies at great risk. The FBI will continue to work diligently with our partners to protect classified information and ensure that those who turn their backs on their country face justice.” ®