Washington, June 22, (dpa/GNA) – A member of the US Air National Guard (USANG), accused of leaking US intelligence information, pleaded not guilty in a federal court on Wednesday, local media reported.
Jack Teixeira was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in April. On June 15, a federal grand jury indicted him on six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information, related to the national defense, broadcaster CNN reported.
If convicted, the 21-year-old faces up to 60 years in prison and a fine of up to $1.5 million, NBC News reported.
Teixeira enlisted in the USANG in September 2019 and had held a top secret security clearance since 2021, the US Justice Department said.
Starting in January 2022, he allegedly intentionally published information that was classified “secret” and “top secret” in a closed chat room on Discord, a platform popular with video gamers, the department said.
From there, the information spread across the internet until authorities and the media became aware of it. It was not until March of this year that the leak became public.
GNA