Airman Jack Teixeira could face 17-year-prison term after leaking classified Pentagon documents on Ukraine to Discord

Prosecutors are seeking a 17-year prison sentence for Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira, who pleaded guilty to leaking classified military documents from the Pentagon related to the war in Ukraine on the social media platform Discord.

Prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum filed Tuesday that Teixeira "perpetrated one of the most significant and consequential violations of the Espionage Act in American history," the Associated Press reported.

"As both a member of the United States Armed Forces and a clearance holder, the defendant took an oath to defend the United States and to protect its secrets — secrets that are vital to U.S. national security and the physical safety of Americans serving overseas. Teixeira violated his oath, almost every day, for over a year," prosecutors wrote.

Teixeira’s sentencing is scheduled for November 12, at which his attorneys are expected to argue that US District Judge Indira Talwani should sentence him to 11 years in prison.

The attorneys wrote in their sentencing memorandum that their client "made a terrible decision which he repeated over 14 months," adding that "It’s a crime that deserves serious consequences. Jack has thoroughly accepted responsibility for the wrongfulness of his actions and stands ready to accept whatever punishment must now be imposed."

In March, Teixeira pleaded guilty to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act. He admitted to illegally collecting the documents and sharing them with others on Discord.

His attorneys described Teixeira as autistic, isolated, and spending most of his time online on Discord, and that while his actions were criminal, they were never meant to "harm the United States."

"Instead, his intent was to educate his friends about world events to make certain they were not misled by misinformation,” the attorneys wrote. “To Jack, the Ukraine war was his generation’s World War II or Iraq, and he needed someone to share the experience with.”

Prosecutors argued that Teixeira does not suffer from an intellectual disability that prevents him from knowing right from wrong and that the post-arrest diagnosis of having "mild-high-functioning" autism "is of questionable relevance in these proceedings."

“Instead, his intent was to educate his friends about world events to make certain they were not misled by misinformation,” the attorneys wrote. “To Jack, the Ukraine war was his generation’s World War II or Iraq, and he needed someone to share the experience with.”