Pentagon leak suspect Jack Teixeira agreed to accept a prison sentence of up to 16 yearsfor leaking highly classified Pentagon documents.
The big picture: Prosecutors say the leak exposed sensitive information to the United States’ adversaries, including details about troop movement in Ukraine and an adversary's plans to attack U.S. troops serving abroad.
Disclosures of this kind “blinds us to threats from hostile nations and terrorist groups,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matt Olsen.
Zoom in: Teixeira, a former Air National guardsman, accepted responsibility for leaking information about the U.S. government's relations with its adversaries and allies.
Teixeira pleaded guilty to six counts, charging him with "willful retention and transmission of national defense information," according to court documents.
He's expected to serve between 11 and 16 years in prison, followed by three years of supervision.
The U.S. attorney agreed not to charge him with further violations of the Espionage Act.
What they’re saying: “Jack Teixeira will never get a sniff of a classified piece of information for the rest of his life,” said Joshua Levy, acting U.S. attorney for the district of Massachusetts.
What's next: Teixeira is expected to participate in a "satisfactory debrief" with intelligence community members, the Defense Department and/or the Justice Department.
In addition to his prison sentence, Teixeira was fined $50,000.
Context: Teixeira came from a military family and was stationed at the Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts.
He worked as an IT specialist responsible for military communications networks.