Former National Guard member from Bristol County sentenced for retaining and transmitting hundreds of pages of classified National Defense Information

BOSTON – Jack Douglas Teixeira, a former member of the United States Air National Guard stationed in Massachusetts, was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for retaining and transmitting hundreds of pages of classified National Defense Information, including many documents designated Top Secret, on an online social media platform in 2022 and 2023.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Justice, Teixeira, 22, of North Dighton, Mass., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani to 15 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Teixeira was also barred from having contact with foreign agents. In March 2024, Teixeira pleaded guilty to six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information relating to the national defense.

Teixeira was arrested in April 2023 and charged by criminal complaint with retention and transmission of NDI and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or materials. He was subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston in June 2023. He has remained in federal custody since his arrest.

“Jack Teixeira repeatedly shared classified national defense information on a social media platform in an attempt to impress anonymous friends on the internet – instead, it has landed him a 15-year sentence in federal prison,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Teixeira’s profound breach of trust endangered our country’s national security and that of our allies. This sentence demonstrates the seriousness of the obligation to protect our country’s secrets and the safety of the American people.”

“Mr. Teixeira is responsible for engaging in one of the most significant leaks of classified documents and information in United States history, which resulted in exceptionally grave and long-lasting damage to the national security of the United States. He exploited his Top-Secret security clearance to share critical defense information online. In doing so, he exposed sensitive defense information involving our allies, putting our intelligence community and our troops at risk,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “Leaking and distributing classified information poses significant and real consequences across the globe. Today, justice was served for all the men and women serving our country overseas with honor and fealty to their oath.”

“This sentencing is a stark warning to all those entrusted with protecting national defense information: betray that trust, and you will be held accountable,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “Jack Teixeira’s criminal conduct 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.”

“Jack Teixeira is the textbook example of an insider threat, and today’s sentence holds him accountable for being one of the most prolific leakers of classified national defense information in American history. This former Air National Guardsman grossly betrayed our country and the oath he took to safeguard its secrets in order to boost his ego and impress his friends,” said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division. “This was not a victimless crime. The exceptionally grave damage he caused will impact our national security for decades to come. This case should serve as a warning to others that the FBI will not hesitate to investigate anyone who discloses classified material to anyone not authorized to receive it.”

Teixeira enlisted in the USANG in September 2019. Until his arrest in 2023, he served with the 102d Intelligence Wing at Otis USANG Base in Massachusetts as a Cyber Defense Operations Journeyman. Teixeira’s primary responsibility was maintaining and troubleshooting the classified workstations of other members of the 102 Intelligence Wing.  In order to perform his job, Teixeira was granted a Top-Secret//Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearance in 2021. Beginning in or around January 2022, Teixeira unlawfully retained and transmitted NDI classified as “TOP SECRET” or “SECRET” and/or Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI), onto the social media platform Discord to persons not authorized to receive such information.

            Teixeira used a secure workstation at the Otis USANG Base to conduct hundreds of searches for classified documents containing NDI that were unrelated to his duties. On two separate occasions, Teixeira’s superiors warned him not to take notes on classified intelligence information and to stop conducting “deep dives” into classified intelligence information. Despite these warnings and his considerable training, Teixeira purposefully and repeatedly removed classified information and documents containing NDI without authorization from the secure facility where he worked. Teixeira subsequently transmitted the information by typing it into an online social media platform, where it was further transmitted by other users. Teixeira also posted images of hundreds of classified documents to a social media platform, nearly all of which bore standard classification markings – including “SECRET,” “TOP SECRET” and SCI designations – indicating that they contained highly classified United States government information. The documents and information illegally disseminated by Teixeira discussed a range of topics including descriptions of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and troop movements on a particular date. The information he retained and disseminated was derived from sensitive U.S. intelligence, gathered through classified sources and methods.

            Shortly before his arrest in April 2022, Teixeira took steps to conceal his disclosures by destroying and disposing of his electronic devices, deleting his online accounts, and encouraging his online acquaintances to do the same.

Attorney General Garland; Acting U.S. Attorney Levy; FBI Director Wray; and FBI SAC Cohen made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service; Air Force Office of Special Investigations; and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nadine Pellegrini and Jared C. Dolan, Chief and Deputy Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s National Security Unit, respectively, Jason A. Casey of the U.S. Attorney’s National Security Unit, and Trial Attorney Christina A. Clark of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section prosecuted the case.