Justice Department seeks 33 years in prison for ex-Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio in Jan. 6 case
The Justice Department is seeking 33 years in prison for Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys leader convicted of seditious conspiracy in one of the most serious cases to emerge from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to court documents filed Thursday.
Such a sentence would be by far the longest punishment imposed in a case stemming from the insurrection. Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy in a separate case, has received the longest sentence to date — 18 years.
Tarrio, who once served as national chairman of the far-right extremist Proud Boys, and three lieutenants were convicted by a Washington jury in May of conspiring to block the transfer of presidential power in the hopes of keeping then-President Trump in the White House after he lost the 2020 election.
The former Proud Boys leader, who was not at the Capitol riot itself, was a top target of what has become the largest Justice Department investigation in history. He led the neofascist group — known for street fights with left-wing activists — when Trump infamously told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” during his first debate with then-Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
During the months-long trial, prosecutors argued that the Proud Boys viewed themselves as foot soldiers fighting for Trump as the Republican spread lies that Democrats stole the election from him and were prepared to go to war to keep their preferred leader in power.
“They unleashed a force on the Capitol that was calculated to exert their political will on elected officials by force and to undo the results of a democratic election,” prosecutors wrote in their filing. “The foot soldiers of the right aimed to keep their leader in power. They failed. They are not heroes; they are criminals.”
Long before Ethan Nordean led the Proud Boys in the Capitol riot, he washed dishes at his family’s restaurant on Puget Sound.
Prosecutors are also asking for a 33-year-sentence for one of Tarrio’s co-defendants, Joseph Biggs of Ormond Beach, Fla., a self-described Proud Boys organizer.
They are asking the judge to impose a 30-year prison term for Zachary Rehl, who was president of the Proud Boys chapter in Philadelphia; 27 years for Ethan Nordean of Auburn, Wash., who was a Proud Boys chapter president; and 20 years for Dominic Pezzola, a member from Rochester, N.Y. Pezzola was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted of other serious charges.
Tarrio, 39, wasn’t in Washington on Jan. 6 because he had been arrested two days earlier in a separate case and ordered out of the capital. But prosecutors alleged that he organized and directed the attack by Proud Boys who stormed the Capitol building that day.
Defense attorneys argued that there was no conspiracy and no plan to attack the Capitol, and sought to portray the Proud Boys as an unorganized drinking club whose members’ participation in the riot was a spontaneous act fueled by Trump’s election rage. Tarrio’s lawyers tried to argue that Trump was the one to blame for exhorting a crowd outside the White House to “fight like hell.”
A jury has heard testimony about the Proud Boys leader’s communications with a police officer in the weeks before members of his far-right extremist group stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Attorneys for the Proud Boys say the prosecutors’ proposed sentences are extreme.
In seeking a lenient sentence, Tarrio’s lawyers noted in court papers filed Friday that the onetime Proud Boys leader has a history of cooperating with law enforcement. Court records uncovered in 2021 showed that Tarrio previously worked undercover and cooperated with investigators after he was accused of fraud in 2012.
Tarrio’s lawyers also said his mental health has suffered behind bars, where he has been since his March 2022 arrest. They urged the judge “to see another side of him — one that is benevolent, cooperative with law enforcement, useful in the community, hardworking and with a tight-knit family unit and community support.”
Noting that the chaos on Jan. 6 was fueled by Trump’s false election claims, a lawyer for Biggs and Rehl told the judge that “believing the commander in chief and heeding his call should yield some measure of mitigation.”
“The defendants are not terrorists. Whatever excesses of zeal they demonstrated on January 6, 2021, and no matter how grave the potential interference with the orderly transfer of power due to the events of that day, a decade or more behind bars is an excessive punishment,” attorney Norm Pattis wrote.
Like in the case of Rhodes and other Oath Keepers, prosecutors are urging the judge to apply a so-called “terrorism enhancement” — which can lead to a longer prison term — on the grounds that the Proud Boys sought to influence the government through “intimidation or coercion.”
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta agreed with prosecutors that the Oath Keepers’ crimes could be punished as “terrorism,” but still sentenced Rhodes and the others to prison terms shorter than what prosecutors had sought. Prosecutors had asked Mehta to sentence Rhodes to 25 years behind bars.
The founder of the militia group Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, was once a promising Yale Law School graduate.
Tarrio, of Miami, and his co-defendants will be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly in a string of hearings starting later this month in Washington’s federal court.
It’s the same courthouse where Trump pleaded not guilty earlier this month in the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith accusing the Republican of illegally scheming to subvert the will of voters and overturn his loss to Biden. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
Tarrio and three of his lieutenants were also convicted of two of the same charges that Trump faces: obstruction of Congress’ certification of Biden’s victory and conspiracy to obstruct Congress.
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