Oath Keepers founder sentenced to 18 years in Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy caseStewart Rhodes, who said after the Capitol attack that the rioters “should have brought rifles," received the longest sentence of any Jan. 6 defendant to date.
WASHINGTON — The founder of the far-right Oath Keepers has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol following his conviction on seditious conspiracy.
The sentence for Stewart Rhodes is the longest imposed on a Jan. 6 defendant to date. In a politically-charged speech in the courtroom just before his sentencing, he called himself a "political prisoner" and said that when he talked about "regime change" in a phone call with supporters earlier this week, he meant he hopes that former President Donald Trump will win in 2024.
The judge disagreed that Rhodes had been locked up for politics, saying it was his actions that led to his criminal convictions.
“You, sir, present an ongoing threat and a peril to this country and to the republic and to the very fabric of this democracy," Judge Amit Mehta said before handing down the sentence.
Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy in November along with Kelly Meggs, a fellow Oath Keepers member.
"They won't fear us until we come with rifles in hand," Rhodes wrote in a message ahead of the Jan. 6 attack. After the attack, in a recording that was played in court during his trial, he said his only regret was that they “should have brought rifles.”
Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit Thursday, Rhodes said he believes the only crime he committed was opposing those who are “destroying our country.”
Mehta told Rhodes that he was found guilty of seditious conspiracy “not because of your beliefs, not because you supported the other guy, not because Joe Biden is president right now,” but because of the facts of the case, and his actions before, during and after Jan. 6.
“You are not a political prisoner, Mr. Rhodes,” he said.
Meggs was also sentenced by Judge Mehta Thursday, to 12 years in federal prison. Mehta said Meggs did not pose the same continuing threat as Rhodes and a shorter sentence was more appropriate. The 12-year sentence for Meggs is the third longest handed down for a Jan. 6 defendant.
An emotional Meggs delivered a statement and apologized to his family for the pain and suffering he’d caused them. Meggs’ sister, brother and son were in the courtroom — his wife Connie, who also participated in the Jan. 6 riot and has been separately convicted on multiple counts, was not present.
“I want to apologize to those that I’ve disappointed and let down,” Meggs said. “My deepest regret is the pain and suffering I’ve caused my family.”
Rhodes and Meggs were put on trial alongside Jessica Watkins, Kenneth Harrelson and Thomas Caldwell, fellow Oath Keepers who were convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting, but not seditious conspiracy. Watkins and Harrelson will be sentenced Friday.
Rhodes took the stand in his case, saying at the trial that the other members of the Oath Keepers were "stupid" to storm the Capitol and that he disagreed with those who went inside; Rhodes did not enter the building. “I had no idea that any Oath Keeper was even thinking about going inside or would go inside,” he said.
But the government also produced messages in which Rhodes said he thought that Jan. 6 was the last opportunity to stop what he saw as a takeover of the government.
"On the 6th, they are going to put the final nail in the coffin of this Republic, unless we fight our way out. With Trump (preferably) or without him, we have no choice," Rhodes wrote in a message ahead of Jan. 6.
He also celebrated Oath Keepers' actions in the immediate aftermath of the attack, after meeting with other members of the group at an Olive Garden restaurant in Virginia that night.
“Patriots, it was a long day but a day when patriots began to stand," he wrote the night of Jan. 6. "Stand now or kneel forever. Honor your oaths. Remember your legacy."
Prior to Thursday's sentence, Peter Schwartz, who was armed with a wooden tire knocker and engaged in a series of assaults on officers during the Capitol attack, had received the longest time behind bars for a Jan. 6 defendant: just more than 14 years. Schwartz had 38 prior convictions.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/oath-keepers-founder-sentenced-18-years-jan-6-seditious-conspiracy-cas-rcna85852'You are not a political prisoner': Judge delivers brutal smackdown of Stewart Rhodes
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was hit with an 18-year prison sentence on Thursday -- but not before he received a brutal smackdown from Judge Amit Mehta.
As recounted by CBS News' Scott MacFarlane, Mehta singled out Rhodes for his singular role in pushing his organization to help take over the United States Capitol building on January 6th, 2021.
He also made sure that Rhodes knew the severity of this offense.
"A seditious conspiracy... is among the most serious crimes an individual American can commit," Mehta informed him. "It's an offense against the government, to use force. It's an offense against the people of the country."
Mehta also took exception to Rhodes' claims of persecution and pointedly told him, "You are not a political prisoner."
"What we cannot have is a group of citizens... who because they didn't like the outcome of the election... are then prepared to take up arms to foment a revolution," he said, according to MacFarlane's transcription. "That's what you did."
Mehta also said that Rhodes and his allies remained a threat to the future of the American republic, as their violent actions had set a precedent for potentially more violence to come during next year's election.
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"We all now hold our collective breaths with an election approaching," said Mehta. "Will we have another January 6th? That remains to be seen."
Shortly afterward, the judge told Rhodes that "you still present an ongoing threat and a peril to this country."
https://www.rawstory.com/stewart-rhodes-2660616526/Oath Keeper Kelly Meggs sentenced to 12 years
Kelly Meggs, the Florida leader of the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to 12 years in prison Thursday for his part in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
The sentencing came just hours after the group's national leader, Elmer Stewart Rhodes, was sent to jail for 18 years. Roger Parloff from Lawfare, Brandi Buchanan from Empty Wheel and Scott MacFarlane from CBS News all live-tweeted as the sentencing hearing unfolded.
At the beginning of the sentencing, District Court Judge Amit Mehta suggested that Meggs had not been coordinating with other Oath Keepers, a fact the assistant US Attorneys disputed.
Messages from Meggs indicated that days before the Jan. 6 attack, he and others assumed President Donald Trump was seeking to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would permit him to stay in office.
“Trump’s staying in, he’s gonna use the emergency broadcast system on cell phones to broadcast to the American people. Then he will claim the insurrection act,” Meggs said in one Facebook message on Dec. 26.
“Any idea when?” a person replied.
“Next week,” Meggs said. “Then wait for the 6th when we are all in dc to insurrection.”Meggs' lawyer, Stanley Woodward, objected to characterizations from the jury that his client was "co-terminus with the conspiracy."
"We respect that the jury found when Meggs went in that the purpose was criminal, but that doesn't change the fact that there wasn't evidence of that kind of plan."
Meggs said that he had resigned from the Oath Keeprs and had made it clear to Rhodes he didn't want to participate in Jan. 6, but he remained on the calls and contacts.
"This is the moment we signed up for," Meggs said on Jan. 6.
Meggs later wrote: "Easy to chat here, the real question is who is ready to die?" and "Scare the hell out of them..." Another suggested flying Oath Keeper flags over Washington. Another said: "There'll be blood in streets no matter what."
Meggs' lawyers claimed this was overactive hyperbole.
"Truth was, it wasn't," said Mehta.
The judge also said that Meggs was responsible for the destruction of property on the east side of the U.S. Capitol doors. On the level 2 enhancement of his charges, Mehta said that he believes he was directed to go into the Capitol.
"It is because of Mr. Rhodes that Mr. Meggs is, in part, sitting here today," Mehta said. "I'm not suggesting I'm absolving him of responsibility or he didn't act of his own free will. But Rhodes' influence on Meggs and dozens of other people who came to Washington that day."
He went on to say that many of those who ultimately broke the law "require(s) that the court make clear that Stewart Rhodes' conduct warrants greater enhancement than Meggs."
Mehta had earlier set the sentencing guideline at 15.5-20 years.
Before Mehta announced the sentence, Meggs' lawyer implored Mehta for leniency.
Mehta also reiterated what a unique charge and conviction it has been.
He said that in this case, "a substantial sentence is necessary" because of the nature of the circumstance, citing whether Meggs was looking for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi while he was making his way through the Capitol. Today, he said, Meggs called it unfortunate and hyperbolic — but if that's hyperbole, Mehta said that there's quite a lot of it.
Mehta cited Rhodes' words on the group call, saying, "There's nothing left to do but fight," the idea that Meggs would see that as doing nothing more than security isn't believable. He said he didn't know how anyone could stand in the court and say that it was all just "bombast" when Meggs was telling others on the Oath Keepers Florida chat that he was prepared to die, because thats what patriots do. Again, it doesn't sound like just a "security detail," as Meggs claimed.
He repeated something he said he's also mentioned in the other Jan. 6 cases: "It is astonishing to me how average Americans somehow transformed into criminals in the weeks before Jan. 6."
He closed by saying the sentence will reflect that the United States has a process, an election, "and if your guy or gal loses, you hope for a better result next time. You don't take to the streets or join in for a war in the streets. You don't rush into the U.S. Capitol with the hope of trying to stop the electoral count." He said if that is allowed to happen, and the rule of law is not upheld, the country will descend into chaos. That, he said, is why they're in the courtroom today.
https://www.rawstory.com/oath-keepers-kelly-meggs/