Air National Guardsman Sentenced to 15 Years for Disclosing Classified Information on Discord

• A former Air National Guard member received a 15-year sentence due to unauthorized disclosure of documents on Discord.
• The individual showed his gaming friends classified American military secrets he had stolen.
• The material included details of a Chinese drone program and U.S., U.K., and NATO information for supporting Ukraine.

A former Air National Guard member, Jack Teixeira, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the unauthorized disclosure of highly classified military information. Teixeira, aged 22, served with the 102nd Intelligence Wing as a cyber defense operations journeyman at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts before his arrest last year.

Teixeira exploited his position to access and disseminate sensitive material beyond his security clearance, sharing these with associates on Discord's chat platform. Among the documents were US and NATO plans concerning support for Ukraine, details on UK and US personnel aiding Ukraine, and insights into a Chinese drone initiative.

Prosecutors emphasized the gravity of Teixeira’s actions, stating they “caused exceptionally grave damage to national security.” His activities were motivated by a desire to impress his peers in an online environment that frequently discussed violent and extremist content.

Despite undergoing regular training on the handling of classified information, Teixeira blatantly disregarded legal and ethical boundaries, joking about potential repercussions. His misconduct was uncovered when the leaked documents began surfacing on other platforms such as 4chan, some of which were manipulated to misrepresent casualty figures in the Ukraine conflict.

FBI Director Christopher Wray reiterated the agency’s commitment to protecting national defense information and warned against breaches of trust.

In October, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed indictments against five military officers and one civilian who were linked to Russia’s GRU for cyberattacks on the Ukrainian government.