Judge: Pardoning Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes for Capitol riot plot would be 'frightening'

[December 19, 2024]  By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal judge who presided over the seditious conspiracy case against Oath Keepers members said Wednesday that it would be "frightening" if the anti-government group's founder, Stewart Rhodes, is pardoned for orchestrating a violent plot to keep Donald Trump in the White House after he lost the 2020 presidential election.

President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly has vowed to pardon rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol nearly four years ago. Rhodes is serving an 18-year prison sentence after a jury convicted him and other Oath Keepers members of seditious conspiracy, the most serious charge stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by a mob of Trump supporters.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta alluded to the prospect of Rhodes receiving a presidential pardon as he sentenced William Todd Wilson, a former Oath Keepers member from North Carolina who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy.

“The notion that Stewart Rhodes could be absolved of his actions is frightening and ought to be frightening to anyone who cares about democracy in this country,” Mehta said.

Mehta isn't the first judge at the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., to criticize the possibility that Trump could pardon hundreds of Capitol rioters when he returns to the White House next month. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump nominee, said during a hearing last month that it would be “ beyond frustrating and disappointing ” if the Republican president-elect issues blanket pardons to Capitol rioters.

On the campaign trial this year, Trump repeatedly referred to Jan. 6 rioters as “hostages” and “patriots” and said he “absolutely” would pardon rioters who assaulted police “if they’re innocent.” Trump also has suggested that he would consider pardoning former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison for a separate plot to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power from Trump to President Joe Biden.

Over 20 judges have presided over more than 1,500 cases against people charged in the Jan. 6 riot. Many Capitol riot defendants have asked for post-election delays in their cases, but judges largely have denied their requests and forged ahead with sentencings, guilty pleas and other hearings.

Wilson, 48, of Newton Grove, North Carolina, was one of several Oath Keepers who cooperated with the Justice Department’s investigation of the far-right extremist group — one of the most consequential prosecutions arising from the Jan. 6 siege.

Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, speaks during a rally outside the White House in Washington, June 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Mehta sentenced Wilson to one year of home detention and three years of probation instead of prison. Prosecutors had recommended one year of incarceration for Wilson, a U.S. Army veteran and former firefighter.

The judge praised Wilson's courage for acknowledging his guilt while many of his co-conspirators have not.

“Setting the history books straight came at a great price to you,” Mehta told Wilson, who lost his military benefits after his guilty plea in May 2022.

Rhodes and his followers amassed weapons and set up “quick reaction force” teams at a Virginia hotel that could ferry guns into the nation’s capital if they were needed to support their plot. The guns stayed at the hotel, but Mehta said it is chilling to think that “one order from a madman” could have led to weapons deployed during a riot.

“Just to speak those words out loud ought to be shocking to anyone,” the judge added.

Wilson didn’t testify at any of the trials for Oath Keepers leaders, members and associates charged in the Jan. 6 attack. Prosecutors said he harmed his credibility by making contradictory statements to investigators about his criminal conduct.

“What we want to hear from witnesses is the truth, unvarnished and without an attempt to curry favor with the government,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Rakoczy.

Wilson expressed remorse and shame for his role in the Jan. 6 attack.

“I have lost a lot of things since then,” he said. “The mental burden that this has had on me has been almost unbearable.”

Also on Wednesday, prosecutors asked a different judge to reject a convicted Capitol rioter's request to attend Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration ceremony in Washington while she is under the court's supervision. The rioter, New Hampshire resident Cindy Young, was sentenced on Nov. 21 to four months of prison and one year of supervised release.

Prosecutors argued that Young poses a danger to the nation's capital and to the police officers who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6. U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Harvey gave Young until Dec. 24 to respond to prosecutors' arguments.

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