U.S. grand jury indicts alleged Pentagon data breach

Each of Teixira's charges carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. Photo: REUTERS

21 years old. — An old junior airman accused of leaking top-secret military intelligence on the Internet was indicted on federal charges of possessing and transmitting classified national defense information.

Jack Teixeira was formally indicted by a grand jury on six counts, each of which the Justice Department said the potential penalty could be up to 10 years in prison.

The filing of the new criminal charges comes two months after he was arrested outside his Massachusetts home and charged under the Act about espionage.

Mr. Teixeira is accused of committing the biggest breach of America's national security since former NSA officer Edward Snowden in 2013.

This is due to the leak of hundreds of highly classified Pentagon documents on the US assessment of the war in Ukraine, and also confidential information about his allies in the game chat group.

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This was very embarrassing for Washington on the world stage and raised burning questions about how the young Air National Guardsman had such wide access to military secrets. Later, two of his unit's commanders were suspended.

Additional allegations filed on Thursday provide more details about what types of information Teixeira allegedly mishandled.

Mr. Teixeira was arrested in April after allegedly posting classified material on Discord. Credit: AP

He faces six counts of unauthorized storage and transmission of national defense information.

Each of the charges carries a potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of parole and a fine of up to $250,000 dollars, the Department of Justice said.

Last month, a judge ordered Mr. Teixeira to remain in prison while he awaits trial, saying that releasing Mr. Teixeira could lead to a flight or an attempt to obstruct justice.

Prosecution also presented evidence that he had made violent and racist threats in the past, had access to a weapons arsenal and posed a risk of sharing sensitive information with foreign countries.

Defending Mr. Teixeira argued that he did not expect the classified information he posted on Discord to continue to circulate on the Internet.

His lawyers argued that prosecutors were exaggerating in their claims that he could risk further compromising secret information.