The Longest January 6th Sentences Are Yet to Come

     I have taken and will continue to take action highlighting those who enable the January 6th insurrectionists and defend their actions, the prime example being Jacob Fracker's wife Luisa, whom I have highlighted before. Joshua James is another prime example. An Oath Keeper charged in the January 6th insurrection, his wife posted videos of herself crying online, whining about how she and her children were awoken to flashbang grenades in the early hours of the morning and how her children had to go to school the next day knowing their father was going to be sent away after his arrest in an FBI raid. She even raised $200,000 on the far-right Christian fundraising site GiveSendGo, ostensibly for legal bills and to make up for James' lost income. She posted dramatic messages as her husband rotted in jail and as his charges were continually upgraded, making him out to be the victim of a media and government conspiracy. In the end, she was right about one thing, and it highlights another important point about the Capitol riot cases.

     Her husband is going away for a very long time. Even after all the whining and vows to fight the charges, Joshua James pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, felonies that carry a combined maximum of 40 years in prison and that will also bar him from voting for life in his home state of Alabama, bar him from owning a firearm ever again, cost him his military benefits, cause him an unbelievable headache with those who donated to his fundraiser assuming he'd beat the charges at trial, and mean that his three young children will grow up without a father. His sentencing range is 87 to 108 months in prison with the agreement that he cooperates with the government in its case against his fellow Oath Keepers: whether he gets the maximum or minimum sentence in his guidelines, he will get the longest sentence of any Capitol rioter to date. He's not the only Oath Keeper to plead guilty: Brian Ulrich of Georgia and William Todd Wilson of North Carolina are also Oath Keepers and also pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy: their sentencing guidelines are both 63 to 78 months in prison and also include a cooperation agreement.

     This raises yet another point: these are the sentences for the worst offenders, sure, but they are the worst offenders who plead guilty for a reduced sentence. If one man should be the most nervous right now, it should be Roberto Minuta, another Oath Keeper. He, James, and Ulrich made up the entirety of "Stack Two," while six other Oath Keepers charged with seditious conspiracy made up "Stack One." Both of his co-conspirators have pleaded guilty, yet Minuta, who, along with James, famously rode the golf cart on Capitol grounds, wants to go to trial. 

     The Oath Keepers aren't the only extremist group facing seditious conspiracy charges: five Proud Boys, including leader Enrique Tarrio, have been charged with this offense. A sixth Proud Boy who avoided a seditious conspiracy charge did so because he pled guilty to conspiracy and agreed to cooperate with the government. Still, he faces a sentence of 97 to 121 months in prison, which makes him the first Capitol rioter to face a sentence of a decade in prison when he is sentenced. Another Proud Boy, Matthew Greene, who helped Donohoe and Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola steal a riot shield from the police, pleaded guilty to obstructing an official proceeding and faces a sentence of 41 to 51 months in prison; he will testify against the five Oath Keepers charged with seditious conspiracy as well as sixth, William Pepe. 14 Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are on track to face at least two separate trials in December, although that date could be moved. If convicted, most of these men and women will likely face 10 to 20 years in prison.

     So far, the longest sentence handed out has been 63 months in prison for a Florida man named Robert Scott Palmer who sprayed a fire extinguisher, threw it, and then threw a wooden plank at police and pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon. That's because the overwhelming majority of guilty pleas have been for nonviolent felonies or misdemeanors like obstructing Congress and disorderly conduct in the Capitol, respectively. More serious guilty pleas have been seen in the past months as the more serious defendants are being convicted at trial. One thing is becoming clear based on the aforementioned facts: the longest January 6th sentences are yet to come.