Global Courant 2023-05-26 04:40:19
Oath Keepers Florida Chapter leader Kelly Meggs was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Thursday on seditious conspiracy and other charges related to the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol breach.
This is the second verdict to be handed down against a defendant found guilty of seditious conspiracy in relation to the January 6 riot. The first verdict has been handed down against Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Thursday.
Rhodes received the longest sentence to date in connection with the attack on the Capitol.
A scene from the January 6 riots at the 2021 U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
Along with a 12-year prison sentence, Meggs, 53, of Dunnellon, Florida, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.
OathHOLDER STEWART RHODES CONDEMNED TO 18 YEARS AFTER JAN. 6 INCREDIBLE CONSPIRACY CONVICTION
“Today’s verdicts reflect the grave threat these defendants’ actions posed to our democratic institutions,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The United States proved at trial that the Oath Keepers conspired for months to violently disrupt the peaceful transfer of power from one government to another. The Justice Department will continue to do everything in our power to hold accountable those criminally responsible for the January 6 attack. attack on our democracy.”
Rhodes and Meggs were found guilty on November 29, 2022 after an eight-week trial followed by three days of deliberation.
Stewart Rhodes, founder of Oath Keepers, in Fort Worth, Texas, February 28, 2021. (Aaron C. Davis/The Washington Post via Getty Images, File)
Meggs was also found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to prevent an officer from fulfilling his duties and tampering with documents or proceedings.
4 OATHKEEPERS CONVINCED OF INCIDENTAL CONSPIRACY FOR ROLES IN JAN. 6 RIOT
According to a Justice Department press release, Rhodes, Meggs and others began plotting to violently oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power following the November 3, 2020 presidential election.
The plan included encrypted and private communications to coordinate travel to Washington, D.C., on or about Jan. 6, 2021, when the Electoral College vote would be certified.
A Texas man who allegedly fired a gun at police had surrendered hours earlier on charges of participating in the riot at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
The DOJ said the defendants and co-conspirators used various means to organize themselves into teams ready and willing to use force and transport firearms to the Capitol, recruit members, organize combat tactics training, send paramilitary equipment to the Capitol, and more.
ARKANSAS MAN WHO STANDS HIS FEET ON NANCY PELOSI’S DESK FOUND GUILTY FOR PART IN CAPITOL PROTEST
As the crowd gathered at the Capitol on January 6, members forced their way through the Capitol’s police barricades and into the building by breaking windows, ramming doors and attacking law enforcement officers.
At about 2:30 p.m., the DOJ said, Meggs and other Oath Keepers and affiliates marched in formation up the Capitol steps, joined others, and entered the building.
Meggs was finally arrested in Florida on February 17, 2021.
More than 1,000 people have been charged with federal crimes as a result of the riots.
About 500 of those people have been convicted and more than half have received prison terms ranging from a week to more than 14 years.
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Until Thursday, the longest sentence was handed down to a man with a long criminal record who assaulted police officers with pepper spray and a chair as he stormed the Capitol.
Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.
