US District Judge Amit Mehta handed down the sentence after a defiant Rhodes appeared before him in an orange jumpsuit and said he was a “political prisoner” who, like Trump, was trying to stand up to people “who are destroying our country.”
“For decades, Mr. Rhodes, it is clear that you have wanted this country’s democracy to turn violent,” Mehta told him.
“I dare say, Mr. Rhodes, and I have never said this about anyone I have convicted: you, sir, are a constant menace and danger to this country, to the republic, and to the very fabric of our democracy.”
In November, a federal grand jury in Washington convicted Rhodes, a former Army paratrooper turned Yale-educated lawyer.
Rhodes’ prison term is the longest of any of the more than 1,000 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by supporters of then-Republican President Trump in a failed attempt to prevent Congress from confirming the Democratic challenger’s November Joe Biden’s party Victory in the 2020 election.
The longest sentence so far was 14 years in prison for a Pennsylvania man who attacked police officers during a riot.
Prosecutors sought 25 years in prison for Rhodes.
“Mr. Rhodes led a conspiracy to use force and violence to intimidate and coerce members of our government to stop the lawful transfer of power after the presidential election,” said federal prosecutor Catherine Rakoczy. “As the court has just established, this is terrorism. ยป
Rhodes expressed no remorse and instead blamed the far left for destroying America.
“I think this country is incredibly divided. And this prosecution – not just of me, but of all J6ers – makes it even worse. I consider every J6er a political prisoner, and they all get grossly overpaid,” he said.
He also promised to “expose the criminality of this regime” from his prison cell.
In addition to the seditious conspiracy charge — a felony charge of attempting to “overthrow, overthrow, or destroy by force the government of the United States” — Rhodes was convicted of obstruction of justice and forgery. Rhodes was acquitted of two other charges.
Rhodes, who wears an eyepatch after accidentally shooting himself in the face with his own gun, founded Oath Keepers in 2009.
Members of the militant group include active and retired U.S. military personnel, law enforcement officers, and first responders. They have appeared, often armed to the teeth, at protests and political events, including the racial justice demonstrations that followed the 2020 killing of a black man named George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis.
Mehta also on Thursday sentenced co-defendant Kelly Maggs, a former Florida chapter leader who also pleaded guilty to sedition, to 12 years in prison.
Prosecutors asked Mehta to sentence Meggs, a former Florida chapter leader, to 21 years in prison, although Meggs’ family members urged the judge to note the defendant’s good qualities as a protector and provider in his roles as a father, brother and husband. .
Meggs’ wife, Connie, was also separately convicted in another trial along with other Oath Keepers accomplices for their role in the attack on the Capitol.
“I’m so sorry for being here,” Kelly Maggs said through tears. “It ruined not only my life, but the lives of my entire family.”
Maggs admitted he should never have entered the Capitol grounds, but he nevertheless denied planning his actions in advance and blamed his “vile and hateful language” for leading to his conviction.
Maggs, who was convicted of four other felonies in addition to sedition, including obstruction of justice, led a panel of jurors dressed in military fatigues to the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Others, meanwhile, organized a “rapid response force” at a hotel in nearby Arlington, Virginia, which prosecutors said was stocked with firearms that could be quickly transported to Washington.
Although Rhodes’ attorneys have vowed to appeal the sentence, they told reporters outside the courthouse that they were pleasantly surprised that Mehta did not impose a harsher sentence.