WORCESTER, Mass — Massachusetts Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira pleaded not guilty Wednesday to six federal felony charges of leaking classified military documents.
Teixeira, 21, entered the pleas Wednesday in a hearing at federal court, according to The Associated Press. The hearing comes days after Teixeira was indicted by a grand jury on six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information.
If convicted, Teixeira could face up to 10 years in prison for each count.
The classified military documents concerned Russia’s war with Ukraine as well as other sensitive national security information, according to WFXT. Teixeira allegedly took the documents then posted them on Discord.
Teixeira will remain in federal custody until his next hearing, the news outlet reported.
He has been in custody since he was arrested in April. A magistrate judge last month ruled that Teixeira will be in jail until the case plays out, the AP reported.
In a statement obtained by the AP, Teixeira’s family said they are continuing to support him. “The important thing is Jack will now have his day in court,” they said, according to the statement obtained by the AP. “We are hopeful that Jack will be getting the fair and just treatment he deserves.”
His attorney said that he is working to get Teixeira released, the AP reported.
Investigators believe that Teixeira was a leader of a group called “Thug Shaker Central,” WFXT reported. It’s a group that would share jokes, talk about wars and guns, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Teixeira enlisted in the Air National Guard in 2019 and began sharing military secrets in January with Discord social media users, according to the news outlet. He reportedly first typed out classified documents and then began sharing photographs of secret and top-secret files.
Teixeira was an IT specialist that was responsible for military communication networks, WFXT reported.
Teixeira was trusted with information “that reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to national security if shared,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement last week, according to the AP.
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