After more than two years since the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, the sentences are piling up — and last week saw the longest prison sentence yet.
More than 1,033 of the rioters have been arrested, with approximately 485 federal defendants receiving sentences. About 277 defendants have been sentenced to time behind bars, and roughly 113 defendants have been sentenced to a period of home detention.
Here are the notable figures and some of the longest sentences handed down to Jan. 6 rioters:
Stewart Rhodes: 18 years
Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the far-right Oath Keepers, last week was sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy — the longest sentence imposed on a Jan. 6 defendant to date.
Prosecutors say Rhodes planned a weekslong effort to derail the transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden, leading to the organization of dozens of allies to descend on Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. Rhodes was convicted in November.
Rhodes, a Yale Law graduate and military veteran, is the first of 14 Jan. 6 defendants, including nine Oath Keepers, to face sentencing after being convicted of seditious conspiracy.
Kelly Meggs, Florida chapter leader of the Oath Keepers, was sentenced alongside Rhodes to 12 years behind bars.
Peter Schwartz: 14 years
Peter Schwartz of Pennsylvania was sentenced to just over 14 years in prison. Schwartz was found guilty in December on 10 charges, including four felony charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers while using a dangerous weapon.
A jury convicted Schwartz on assault and civil disorder charges for throwing a chair at officers and spraying them with pepper spray. Schwartz also has a prior criminal history of 38 felony convictions dating back to 1991.
Thomas Webster: 10 years
Thomas Webster, a retired New York City police officer who assaulted a D.C. officer on the front lines of the Capitol riot, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Webster was the first defendant to present a self-defense argument, though a jury rejected that claim because he tackled a D.C. officer and grabbed his gas mask. Webster has said he wishes he had never gone to Washington.
U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta described Webster’s assault on the officer as one of the most haunting and shocking images from that day.
Jessica Watkins: 8.5 years
Jessica Watkins, an army veteran and member of the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison this month.
At the trial, Watkins was shown leading a small militia in Ohio to then mobilize in Washington on Jan 6. Watkins marched to the Capitol and encouraged rioters to push past police at the Capitol.
Watkins’ attorney said that the trauma and rejection from friends and family due to her being transgender was what pushed her to be dragged into conspiracy theories around the 2020 election and to eventually take part in the riot.
Patrick McCaughey: 7.5 years
Patrick McCaughey was sentenced to seven and half years in prison after images captured McCaughey pinning a D.C. police officer in a Capitol doorway as he howled in pain.
McCaughey pinned down Officer Daniel Hodges for more than two minutes while another rioter stole Hodges’ baton and struck him with it. McCaughey has described his actions as “monumentally stupid.”
A judge found McCaughey guilty in September after a bench trial on three charges of assaulting or impeding police officers, obstructing Congress’ proceedings and participating in a civil disorder, among other charges.
Kyle Young: More than 7 years
Kyle Young, who pleaded guilty to assaulting D.C. Police Officer Michael Fanone, was sentenced in September to a little over seven years in prison.
A judge sentenced Young after describing his “enthusiastic” participation in the mob violence against Fanone.
Young pleaded guilty to assaulting, resisting or impeding a police officer. He is one of the several rioters who assaulted Fanone, who was tased.
Albuquerque Cosper Head: 7.5 years
Albuquerque Cosper Head, who was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in October, is a Jan. 6 rioter considered to have committed one of the day’s most brutal assaults against a police officer.
Head pleaded guilty to yanking Fanone away from police lines and shouting, “I got one!” before other rioters dragged the officer away, tased him and robbed him of his badge and radio.
U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson described Head’s attack on Fanone as one of the most chilling moments of violence on a dark day for the country.
Guy Reffitt: More than 7 years
Guy Reffitt, the first Jan. 6 defendant to go before a jury, was sentenced to seven and a quarter years in prison in August.
Reffitt was convicted on five felony charges, including interfering with police during civil disorder, obstructing the tallying of the electoral votes and threatening his children if they reported him to authorities.
Reffitt drove to Washington with an acquaintance the day before the riot and brought two AR-15 rifles and a pistol with him. Reffitt had the pistol on him as he engaged in a tense standoff with police during the riot, though he never entered the Capitol.
Thomas Robertson: More than 7 years
Thomas Robertson, an off-duty Virginia police officer, was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison in August after being convicted of attacking the Capitol to obstruct Congress from certifying Biden’s 2020 presidential victory.
Robertson had wielded a large stick and put on a gas mask during the riot while confronting police officers.
After Jan. 6, Robertson was found stockpiling guns and advocated for violence. Robertson told a friend that he was prepared to fight and die in a civil war as he hung onto the claim that the 2020 election was stolen.
Julian Khater: More than 6 years
Julian Khater was sentenced to over six years in prison after he pepper-sprayed three police officers in the face, including Brian Sicknick, who died of multiple strokes the next day.
A U.S. District Court judge found that Khater made a calculated decision to find his way to the front of the mob and use pepper spray that injured at least three officers.
Robert Palmer: More than 5 years
Robert Palmer was sentenced to more than five years for assaulting police and participating in some of the most violent episodes of Jan. 6.
Palmer threw wooden boards and a fire extinguisher at police officers who were guarding the Lower West Tunnel of the Capitol. Palmer pleaded guilty in October 2021 and was sentenced in December of that year.
Richard "Bigo" Barnett: 4.5 years
Richard Barnett, the man who was photographed on Jan. 6 with his feet on a desk in then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.
The image of Barnett became a symbol of the brazenness of the Jan. 6 attack. In January of this year, Barnett was convicted on eight charges, including obstructing Congress’ Jan. 6 proceedings as well as disorderly conduct in the Capitol while carrying a dangerous weapon.
Barnett has insisted that he had expressed remorse for his actions and for putting his feet on the desk.
Jacob Chansley: Almost 3.5 years
Jacob Chansley, who gained notoriety for images of him shirtless and wearing a horned headdress, was sentenced to almost three and a half years in November 2021 but was released from a halfway house in May 2023, ending his time in federal custody.
Chansley, a follower of the QAnon conspiracy movement, did not engage in physical violence on Jan. 6 but was a leader among those who went into the Senate chamber and disrupted the electoral vote.
Chansley pleaded guilty to attempting to obstruct Congress’ effort to certify the results of the 2020 election and sought a pardon from then-President Donald Trump.
Riley Williams: 3 years
Riley Williams was sentenced to three years in prison in March after she surged with the mob into Pelosi’s office on Jan. 6.
Williams, a devotee of white nationalist Nick Fuentes, is seen on tape entering Pelosi’s conference room while other rioters took Pelosi’s laptop, and she encouraged them to steal it, but Williams’ lawyers contended that it was unclear whether the rioters heard her comment.
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By: Kierra Frazier
Title: Jan. 6 sentences are piling up. Here's a look at some of the longest handed down.
Sourced From: www.politico.com/news/2023/05/30/january-6-arrest-sentencing-00099158
Published Date: Tue, 30 May 2023 11:32:02 EST
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