In a recent development, the Department of Justice under President Biden's administration is reportedly seeking a 33-year prison term for Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, as per court documents filed on Thursday, the New York Post has reported.
Tarrio was arrested in March 2022 and was later convicted of seditious conspiracy. Despite not being present at the rally held at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, prosecutors have argued that Tarrio played a pivotal role in orchestrating and guiding the protest.
Several other members of the Proud Boys, including Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, and Zachary Rehl, were also convicted of the same charge. The court found Tarrio and his three co-members guilty of obstructing the certification of President Biden's election victory by Congress and conspiring to obstruct Congress.
In their court filings, Justice Department prosecutors stated, "They unleashed a force on the Capitol that was calculated to exert their political will on elected officials by force and to undo the results of a democratic election. The foot soldiers of the right aimed to keep their leader in power. They failed. They are not heroes; they are criminals."
If the court accepts the prosecution's recommendation of a 33-year prison term, Tarrio will receive the longest sentence related to the January 6 rally at the Capitol. In a separate case, Stewart Rhodes, the founder of Oath Keepers who was also convicted of seditious conspiracy, was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
The prosecution is also seeking a 33-year prison term for Tarrio's co-defendant, Biggs, who was alleged to have been an organizer for the Proud Boys. Rehl, who presides over the Philadelphia chapter of the Proud Boys, could potentially face a 30-year prison term at the DOJ's request. The prosecutors have requested 27 years for Nordean, the president of the Washington chapter, and 20 years for Dominic Pezzola, a Proud Boys member who was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted on other charges.
The prosecution has alleged that the men used "intimidation and coercion" to attempt to influence the government and, therefore, each should receive a "terrorism enhancement" that would impose longer sentences.
The defense attorneys for the members have argued that the prosecution's proposed sentences are excessive. Attorney Norm Pattis stated, "The defendants are not terrorists. Whatever excesses of zeal they demonstrated on January 6, 2021, and no matter how grave the potential interference with the orderly transfer of power due to the events of that day, a decade or more behind bars is an excessive punishment."
Later this month, Tarrio and the other Proud Boys members will be sentenced.
The federal investigations into the events of January 6 represent the largest investigation ever conducted by the DOJ in American history.
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