Second Oath Keeper sentenced to 12 years in prison for Jan. 6 Capitol riot
Oath Keepers Florida chapter chief Kelly Meggs was sentenced to 12 years in prison Thursday for seditious conspiracy and different fees associated to the U.S. Capitol breach on Jan. 6, 2021.
This is the second sentence to be handed down to a defendant discovered responsible of seditious conspiracy with relation to the Jan. 6 riot, with the primary being handed to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in prison.
Rhodes acquired the longest sentence, to date, associated to the assault on the Capitol.
A scene from the January sixth riots on the U.S. Capitol in 2021. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
Along with a 12-year prison sentence, Meggs, 53, of Dunnellon, Florida, was additionally sentenced to three years of supervised launch.
OATH KEEPER STEWART RHODES SENTENCED TO 18 YEARS AFTER JAN. 6 SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY CONVICTION
“Today’s sentences reflect the grave threat the actions of these defendants posed to our democratic institutions,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland mentioned. “The United States proved at trial that the Oath Keepers plotted for months to violently disrupt the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next. The Justice Department will continue to do everything in our power to hold accountable those criminally responsible for the January 6th attack on our democracy.”
Rhodes and Meggs had been discovered responsible on Nov. 29, 2022, after an eight-week trial, adopted by three days of deliberation.
Stewart Rhodes, founding father of Oath Keepers, in Fort Worth, Texas, Feb. 28, 2021. (Aaron C. Davis/The Washington Post by way of Getty Images, File)
Meggs was additionally discovered responsible of conspiracy to impede an official continuing, obstruction of an official continuing, conspiracy to stop an officer from discharging duties and tampering with paperwork or proceedings.
4 OATHKEEPERS CONVICTED OF SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY FOR ROLES IN JAN. 6 RIOT
According to a press launch from the Department of Justice, Rhodes, Meggs and others began plotting a plan to oppose, by pressure, the lawful switch of presidential energy after the Nov. 3, 2020, presidential election.
The plan concerned encrypted and personal communications to coordinate journey to Washington, D.C., on or round Jan. 6, 2021, when the electoral faculty vote can be licensed.
A Texas man who reportedly fired a gun at police had simply hours earlier surrendered to fees that he participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
The DOJ mentioned the defendants and co-conspirators used a wide range of means to manage into groups prepared and keen to use pressure and transport firearms to the Capitol, recruit members, manage trainings on fight ways, transporting paramilitary gear onto the Capitol grounds, and extra.
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When the group gathered on the Capitol on Jan. 6, members pressured their manner by U.S. Capitol Police barricades and into the constructing by breaking home windows, ramming doorways, and assaulting regulation enforcement officers.
At about 2:30 p.m., the DOJ mentioned, Meggs and different Oath Keepers and associates marched in formation up the steps of the Capitol, joined others, and entered the constructing.
Meggs was finally arrested in Florida on Feb. 17, 2021.
Over 1,000 folks have been charged with federal crimes stemming from the riot.
About 500 of these folks have been sentenced, and over half have acquired prison phrases starting from per week to over 14 years.
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Up till Thursday, the longest sentence was given to a person with a protracted felony file who attacked cops with pepper spray and a chair as he stormed the Capitol.