A federal judge on November 12 sentenced a member of the U.S. Massachusetts Air National Guard to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to leaking highly classified military documents about the war in Ukraine. Jack Teixeira pleaded guilty earlier this year to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act. The 22-year-old showed no visible reaction as he was sentenced. Earlier in the hearing he apologized, telling the judge he was "sorry for all the harm that I brought and caused." Prosecutors had originally requested a 17-year sentence, saying Teixeira "perpetrated one of the most significant and consequential violations of the Espionage Act in American history." Defense attorneys had sought an 11-year sentence. They acknowledged that their client "made a terrible decision which he repeated over 14 months," but said Teixeira's actions were never meant to "harm the United States."
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