Accused Pentagon leaker Jack Teixeira pleads guilty, faces almost 17 years jail
- Jack Teixeira leaked classified US military documents about the war in Ukraine, other security secrets
- Leaks were the biggest such breach since the 2013 dump of classified documents by Edward Snowden
The US airman accused of leaking a trove of top secret Pentagon documents pleaded guilty on Monday under a deal that saw him sentenced to some 17 years in prison in return for prosecutors dropping more serious espionage charges.
Jack Teixeira, once a low-level Massachusetts Air National Guard IT specialist, was accused of orchestrating the most damaging leak of US classified documents in a decade, some of which concerned the war in Ukraine.
Had he faced charges under the Espionage Act, Teixeira could have been imprisoned for life.
Instead he appeared in a federal court in an orange prison jumpsuit Monday and pleaded guilty to six counts of wilful transmission of national defence information.
He will be sentenced to up to 16 years and eight months under the agreement, and must pay a fine of US$50,000 and assist intelligence officials to understand the extent and impact of his disclosures.