A Massachusetts Air National Guardsman was indicted on six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified national defense information on Thursday, June 15, 2023.
Jack Douglas Teixeira, 21, of North Dighton, Massachusetts, was arrested on April 13, 2023, and charged by criminal complaint with retention and transmission of national defense information and unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or materials.
On May 19, 2023, U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge David H. Hennessy granted the government’s motion for detention. Teixeira remains in federal custody.
The indictment alleges that Teixeira, who was entrusted with access to classified national defense information, willfully, improperly, and unlawfully retained and transmitted National Defense Information classified as “TOP SECRET” or “SECRET” and/or Sensitive Compartmented Information, which he had reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation, on a social media platform to persons not authorized to receive such information.
According to the charging documents, Teixeira enlisted in the USANG in September 2019 and has held a Top Secret security clearance since 2021.
It is alleged that, beginning in or around January 2022, Teixeira transmitted the classified National Defense Information on the social media platform in two ways.
First, Teixeira allegedly accessed classified documents containing National Defense Information from a classified workstation at the Otis USANG Base and transcribed and transmitted the information in written paragraphs to other users on the social media platform.
Teixeira also posted images of classified documents to the social media platform, which bore standard classification markings – including “SECRET,” “TOP SECRET,” and SCI designations – indicating that they contained highly classified United States government information.
At least one of the documents containing national defense information was allegedly found in digital form in a particular account associated with Teixeira.
Each charge of unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
If Teixeira is found guilty, a federal judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI Boston and Washington Field Offices are investigating the case. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations provided valuable assistance.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nadine Pellegrini, Jared C. Dolan, and Jason A. Casey for the District of Massachusetts and Trial Attorney Christina A. Clark of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.