By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Portal) A federal judge on Thursday sentenced former farright Proud Boys leaders Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl to 17 and 15 years in prison, respectively, after a jury convicted them of seditious conspiracy in a failed attempt to break into the United States Capitol. to overturn Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election.
The sentences that U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly imposed on Biggs and Rehl on January 6, 2021, the first Proud Boys convicted of seditious conspiracy for their roles, fell within U.S. sentencing guidelines and are far less severe than the prison sentence federal prosecutors demanded, of 33 and 30 years.
Kelly said he was not “trying to downplay” the violence that took place on Jan. 6, but noted that the event is not yet on the same level as a mass casualty incident and that imposing a harsher sentence creates disparities could lead.
Before his sentencing, Biggs apologized for his behavior toward Kelly and fell silent when talking about his daughter, who he said was a sexual assault victim and needed him.
“I was seduced by the crowd and just moved on. My curiosity got the better of me,” Biggs said. “I am not a terrorist. I have no hate in my heart.”
Rehl, for his part, began to cry as he read a statement while his lawyer stood next to him with his hand behind his back.
“I regret getting involved in it,” he said. He added that he let politics take over his life and “lost track of who and what matters.”
He also apologized for disappointing his family and asked if Kelly could send him to a federal prison near his home.
Prosecutors calculated their sentencing recommendation for Rehl based in part on evidence that he committed perjury when he took the stand in his own defense during the trial and lied about attacks on police with chemical sprays.
The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was intended to stop Congress from certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s election, which Trump falsely claims was the result of widespread fraud.
“These are very serious crimes,” federal prosecutor Jason McCullough said Thursday. “There is a reason we will collectively hold our breath in the face of future elections… They have brought this to the brink of a constitutional crisis.”
Trump has a big lead in the race for the Republican nomination to challenge Biden in 2024.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch)