A former member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who admitted to leaking highly classified military information about the war in Ukraine is expected to be sentenced Tuesday and could serve nearly 17 years in prison.

Federal prosecutors accused Jack Teixeira of carrying out “one of the most significant and consequential violations of the Espionage Act in American history.”

Last March, he pleaded guilty to six counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information while assigned to the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts.

Teixeira admitted to illegally collecting sensitive national secrets and sharing them on the social media platform Discord. He was arrested in April 2023.

Federal prosecutors said he took an oath to defend the U.S. and protect its secrets vital to national security and the safety of Americans serving overseas.

“Teixeira violated his oath almost every day, for over a year,” prosecutors said.

• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.