A federal decide sentenced chief of the Oath Keepers militia Stewart Rhodes to 18 years in jail on Thursday for his function within the January 6, 2021 US Capitol riot. Rhodes’ sentence is now the longest handed down in reference to the plot to disrupt the certification of the 2020 US presidential election.
Decide Amit Mehta sentenced Rhodes throughout an almost four-hour, no-camera listening to in a federal district court docket in Washington DC. Earlier than sentencing him, Mehta mentioned to Rhodes, “You, sir, current an ongoing risk and peril to this nation.” A jury discovered Rhodes guilty of seditious conspiracy in November 2022, which usually carries a most 20-year jail sentence. Nevertheless, throughout sentencing, federal prosecutors asked Mehta to contemplate a terrorism enhancement to lift the potential sentence to 25 years in jail.
Mehta gave Rhodes an opportunity to talk previous to handing down the sentence. Throughout that point, Rhodes referred to himself as a “political prisoner.”
Following the sentencing, Rhodes’ attorneys spoke to reporters exterior the courthouse. They mentioned that, primarily based on what Mehta mentioned to Rhodes previous to his sentencing, they anticipated an extended jail sentence. Regardless, they mentioned Rhodes nonetheless intends to attraction the choice, citing potential violations of the US Structure’s First Modification safety of free speech.
Federal officers first arrested Rhodes in January 2022 on seditious conspiracy costs. Federal prosecutors then tried the case in opposition to Rhodes and 4 different people linked with the Oath Keepers and the Capitol riot within the fall of 2022. After eight weeks of trial, the jury convicted Rhodes and his co-defendants of seditious conspiracy and associated costs. Thursday’s sentence brings to a detailed the trial portion of the case in opposition to Rhodes.
Rhodes’ sentence is the longest handed down by a federal court docket in reference to the Capitol riot.
Source / Picture: jurist.org
