The Massachusetts Air National Guard, Jack Teixeria, was charged under the Espionage Act on Friday with unauthorized removal, retention and transmission of defense information and classified documents.
He was arrested for allegedly leaking top secret intelligence files to the public via a Discord chat room.
If found guilty, Teixeria faces up to 15 years in prison.
The 21-year-old did not enter a formal plea and remains detained until his hearing on Wednesday.
How it went down
The FBI traced the Pentagon leak to social media Discord’s invite-only chat room, Thug Shaker Central. It is where Air Guardsman Jack Teixeira is believed to have posted the US classified documents in late February—after which they went viral on 4chan and Twitter in March.
He was arrested at his parents home on Thursday.
Teixeria—who graduated high school in 2020—was a cyber transport systems specialist at the Air Force and held top security clearance, a defense official told The Associated Press.
His arrest has gotten Pentagon officials to rethink security clearance for young recruits.