Proud Boys Member Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Jan. 6 Involvement

Proud Boys Member Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Jan. 6 Involvement
A large group of protesters stand on the east steps of the Capitol Building after breaching its grounds in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
1/16/2023
Updated:
1/16/2023
0:00

Nicholas DeCarlo, a member of the Proud Boys, was sentenced to prison for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach two years ago. DeCarlo was initially facing 20 years in prison, but after reaching a deal with prosecutors, he will serve four years in a Dallas federal facility.

DeCarlo of Fort Worth, Texas, was sentenced along with Proud Boys leader Nicholas Ochs of Honolulu, Hawaii, the founder of the Hawaii chapter of the Proud Boys.

According to the FBI release on the case, Ochs and DeCarlo traveled to Washington for the rally on Jan. 6, 2021, and joined others in entering the Capitol through the Senate Wing doors. During the breach, Ochs filmed DeCarlo vandalizing a door with the words “Murder the Media,” the name of the men’s social media channel.

They were each indicted for conspiring to commit an offense against the United States.

According to the indictment, DeCarlo and Ochs agreed to travel to Washington to stop or delay the certification of the results of the November 2020 presidential election. They used the internet to raise funds and travel from their respective locations to Washington.

DeCarlo and Ochs pleaded guilty on Sept. 9, 2022, to obstruction of an official proceeding in the District of Columbia. They were each sentenced to four years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

In addition to their prison sentences, Ochs was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, $2,000 in restitution, and a $100 special assessment. DeCarlo was ordered to pay a $2,500 fine, $2,000 in restitution, and a $100 special assessment.

DeCarlo Speaks Before Starting Sentence

SVT, the Swedish national public television broadcaster, conducted an interview with DeCarlo on the day he surrendered himself to authorities to start serving his sentence. Despite spending the past few months under house arrest and wearing an ankle bracelet, he said he has few regrets.

“What is happening today is that I am surrendering myself to federal prison, where I am going to be for four years for a little bit of tomfoolery at the Capitol,” DeCarlo told SVT. When asked if it was worth it, he replied: “I think so.”

“I did what I did, and it’s—it’s me, you know?” DeCarlo said. “You know, maybe after going there, I wouldn’t have gone—like, thinking back, maybe I wouldn’t have gone inside. You know, maybe I would have found a better way to get a message across.”

“I don’t so much regret everything, but it definitely does suck that I got four years,” he said.