Proud Boys leader gets 18 years, matching longest Jan. 6 punishment to date
Two more members of the Proud Boys convicted in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol were sentenced to lengthy prison terms Friday, with one of the group’s leaders that day receiving an 18-year sentence for seditious conspiracy, the longest term for a Proud Boys member so far and equal to the longest Jan. 6 sentence yet imposed. Another member who gained national renown for smashing a window at the Capitol, enabling the first breach of the building by rioters, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
But some of the defendants seemed unrepentant. After expressing his deep remorse over his actions on Jan. 6, and receiving a 10-year term that was half what prosecutors had sought, Dominic Pezzola turned to the audience as he left the courtroom Friday, raised his fist and yelled, “Trump won!” And co-defendant Zachary Rehl, who was sentenced Thursday to 15 years, phoned a group of supporters from the D.C. jail that night and called the verdict against him a “political charade,” which he hoped would be overturned on appeal in time for him to vote for Trump again.
After Pezzola’s sentencing, U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly turned to Ethan Nordean, 33, of Auburn, Wash. Nordean was tapped to head the “boots on the ground” in Washington after Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio was banned from the city due to a Jan. 4 arrest. Nordean and Joseph Biggs, a far-right online personality and associate of broadcaster Alex Jones, used bullhorns to direct about 200 men away from a rally featuring then-President Donald Trump.
Photos and videos show the two marching the group toward the Capitol long before Trump’s remarks, and then imploring both Proud Boys and the arriving crowd of Trump supporters to overrun the police and enter the Capitol after the electoral vote certification began at 1 p.m. on Jan. 6.
On Thursday, Biggs was sentenced to 17 years in prison by Kelly. But the judge added an additional year for Nordean after listening to Nordean express careful regret for his actions. Kelly did not explain why he gave a longer term to Nordean.
Tarrio is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday.
The prosecution asked Kelly to enhance the sentences of both Pezzola and Nordean by ruling that their acts to disrupt the electoral college vote count qualified as terrorism. Kelly agreed to this request with Biggs and Rehl, and did so again with Pezzola and Nordean. Doing so raises the criminal history calculation of any defendant to the highest level, which took Nordean to a sentencing guidelines range of 27 to 34 years.
Prosecutors initially sought a 27-year term for Nordean and 20 years for Pezzola. But as with Biggs and Rehl, Kelly decided that the sentencing ranges for Nordean and Pezzola were too severe. After seeing the sentences for Biggs and Rehl, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason McCullough argued Friday that Nordean deserved at least 17 years, as a “structural equal” of Biggs.
“The truth is I did help lead a group of men back to the Capitol,” Nordean told the judge. “There is no excuse for my actions, ignoring police commands, going past barricades, entering the Capitol, adding myself to the dangerous situation was sorely irresponsible. I would like to take the time to apologize to anyone I wronged. There is no excuse for what I did. I would also like to apologize for my lack of leadership that day.”
Kelly said that most cases with terrorism adjustments “seem to incorporate an intent to kill people or at least a means in the offense to risk serious injury or death. I don’t think while what Mr. Nordean was convicted of was a serious crime, I don’t think he intended to kill anyone that day.”
The sentencing guideline ranges are optional, and most judges have gone below them in sentencing Jan. 6 defendants. The longest sentence given so far for Jan. 6 was to Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers, a far-right, anti-government extremist group, who received an 18-year term for seditious conspiracy. Biggs was given the second-longest sentence. Prosecutors are asking for 33 years for Tarrio.
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