Judge sentences ex-Proud Boys leaders to 17 and 15-year terms for US
Capitol attack
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[September 01, 2023]
By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A federal judge on Thursday sentenced former
far-right Proud Boys leaders Joseph Biggs to 17 years in prison and his
co-defendant Zachary Rehl to 15 years, after a jury convicted them of
seditious conspiracy for storming the U.S. Capitol in a failed bid to
overturn Donald Trump's 2020 election defeat.
The prison terms handed down by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly for
Biggs and Rehl, the first Proud Boys convicted of seditious conspiracy
to be sentenced for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, were below
U.S. sentencing guidelines and far lower than the 33-year and 30-year
terms sought by federal prosecutors.
Kelly said on Thursday he was not "trying to minimize the violence" that
occurred on Jan. 6, but he noted that the event was still not on par
with a mass casualty event and imposing a stricter sentence could create
disparities.
Ahead of his sentencing, Biggs apologized for his actions as he faced
Kelly, choking up as he spoke about his daughter whom he said was a
sexual assault victim who needs him while he has been locked up.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Sep/01/images/ads/current/hartsburggrain_sda_FAIR_2023.png)
“I was seduced by the crowd, and I just moved forward. My curiosity got
the better of me,” said Biggs. “I’m not a terrorist. I don’t have hate
in my heart.”
Rehl, meanwhile, broke down crying as he read a statement, as his lawyer
stood next to him with his hand on Rehl's back.
“I regret involving myself with any of it,” he said. He added that he
let politics consume his life and he “lost track of who and what
matters.”
He also apologized for letting his family down and asked if Kelly could
send him to a federal prison close to his home.
Prosecutors calculated their sentencing recommendation for Rehl, in
part, based on evidence he committed perjury when he took the stand in
his own defense during the trial and lied about assaulting police with a
chemical spray.
"You did spray that officer and you lied about it," Kelly told him,
adding these were "bad facts."
The Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol was meant to stop Congress from
certifying Democratic President Joe Biden's election, which Trump
falsely claims was the result of widespread fraud.
"These are very serious crimes," federal prosecutor Jason McCullough
said on Thursday. “There is a reason why we will hold our collective
breaths as we approach future elections. ... They pushed this to the
edge of a constitutional crisis.”
Trump has a wide lead in the race for the Republican nomination to
challenge Biden in 2024.
In one of the debates during his 2020 presidential campaign, Trump
famously told the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by" when he was
asked by the moderator to denounce white supremacists.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Sep/01/images/ads/current/heritagepackaging_sda_FAIR_2023.png)
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![](../images/090123PIX/news_a38.jpg)
Proud Boys member Joe Biggs speaks
during a rally in Portland, Oregon, September 26, 2020, before he
was later arrested for his involvement in the storming of the U.S.
Capitol building in Washington. D.C., U.S. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart/File
Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Sep/01/images/ads/current/debbiesflora_lda_081123.png)
Two other Proud Boys - Ethan Nordean and Dominic Pezzola - will face
sentencing before Kelly on Friday, while the group's former chairman
Enrique Tarrio will be sentenced on Sept. 5.
Prosecutors are seeking a 33-year prison term for Tarrio and a
27-year term for Nordean, both of whom were also convicted of
seditious conspiracy.
They are requesting a 20-year term for Pezzola, who was acquitted of
seditious conspiracy, but convicted of other serious felonies.
TERRORISM ENHANCEMENT
Prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly to agree to
apply a terrorism enhancement for all five Proud Boys defendants - a
move that has the potential to add roughly 15 years to a prison
term.
Kelly on Thursday agreed that Biggs and Rehls' conduct amounted to
an act of terrorism, but he did not apply the enhancement because he
said it "overstates the conduct" at issue.
The sentences he imposed, while far lower than what the government
requested, still represent among the most stringent to date in
connection with the Capitol attack.
To date, former Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes holds the record
with an 18-year sentence, after he was convicted of seditious
conspiracy earlier this year.
More than 1,100 people have been arrested on charges related to the
Capitol assault. Of those, more than 630 have pleaded guilty and at
least 110 have been convicted at trial.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Sep/01/images/ads/current/wellsfirearms_sda_FAIR_2023.png)
Five people including a police officer died during or shortly after
the riot and more than 140 police officers were injured. The Capitol
suffered millions of dollars in damage.
Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was tapped to investigate broader
attempts to overturn the 2020 election, has since charged Trump for
trying to keep himself in power.
It is one of four indictments now facing Trump, as the 2024 campaign
is about to kick into high gear.
Trump is also charged in Georgia on charges related to the 2020
election results.
In addition, he is charged by Smith's office in Florida with
mishandling classified documents, and New York state charges of
falsifying business records in connection with hush money paid to
porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Scott Malone, Mark Porter
and Grant McCool)
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