A federal court has sentenced Massachusetts Air National Guard pilot Jack Teixeira to 15 years in prison for leaking top-secret documents about the war in Ukraine.
A few months ago Teixeira admitted to the allegations and at the court hearing apologized for his actions. The prosecution sought to impose a 17-year prison sentence on him, alleging that he committed "one of the most significant violations of the Espionage Act.”
On the other hand, Teixeira’s defense attorneys requested that he be sentenced to 11 years in prison, noting that he had "made a terrible decision," but according to them, "his criminal acts were not intended to harm the US" and that he had no criminal record.
Teixeira, a pilot in the Massachusetts National Guard, took printouts of the documents at his parents' Dayton home and posted them to the Discord instant messaging platform, on a server called "Thug Shaker Central."
Among others, the secret documents mentioned difficulties for each of the sides in the war between Russia and Ukraine and that more Russian soldiers had been killed in the war in Ukraine, than Ukrainians.
In addition, the leaked documents contain an overview of Russia's ties with various countries in the world and Russia's use of groups, such as the Wagner Group, to weaken American interests.