61 Percent of Jan. 6 Defendants Received Prison Sentences, Report Says

Pro-Trump protesters gather in front of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (Brent Stirton/Getty Images)

More than 60 percent of defendants in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol whose cases have concluded received prison time as part of their sentences, the U.S. Department of Justice reported.

According to the latest DOJ data through Oct. 5, 658 defendants’ cases have concluded, including 399 defendants—or 60.8 percent—who were sentenced to some period of incarceration. Another 108 defendants were sentenced to home detention.

“The investigation and prosecution of those responsible for the attack continues to move forward at an unprecedented speed and scale,” the DOJ said in its 33-month Jan. 6 update. “The Department of Justice’s resolve to hold accountable those who committed crimes on January 6, 2021, has not, and will not, wane.”

The longest prison terms—18 and 22 years, respectively—were handed to Oath Keepers founder Elmer Stewart Rhodes III and former Proud Boys Chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio. Both men have appealed their convictions for seditious conspiracy and other charges.

The FBI has arrested 1,185 people on Jan. 6-related criminal charges, according to the report.

The most recent reported arrest occurred on Oct. 4.

Related Stories

Challenges to Jan. 6 Obstruction of Congress Prosecutions Pile Up at US Supreme Court

10/3/2023

Oath Keepers Founder Accuses Capitol Police of ‘Willful Perjury,’ Calls for Verdicts to be Overturned

10/11/2023

Derek Jaccob Dodder, 31, of Las Vegas, was charged with four misdemeanors, including entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in Capitol building or grounds; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

More than 35 percent of those arrested—410—were charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees, including 117 that were charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer, the DOJ stated.

Some 317 defendants have been charged with “corruptly obstructing, influencing, or impeding an official proceeding, or attempting to do so,” a novel 20-year felony charge that led to a July petition by Jan. 6 defendant Edward Jacob Lang for review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Derek Jaccob Dodder, 31, of Las Vegas, was arrested by the FBI on Oct. 4 and charged with four Jan. 6 misdemeanors. (U.S. Department of Justice/Screenshots via The Epoch Times)

The petition, which has been joined in amici curiae briefs by three other Jan. 6 defendants and the FormerFedsGroup Freedom Foundation, could receive Supreme Court action after Oct. 30.

Forty-two defendants were charged with conspiracy to obstruct a congressional proceeding, conspiracy to obstruct law enforcement during a civil disorder, conspiracy to injure an officer, or some combination of the three charges, the report states.

Nearly 70 defendants have been charged with destruction of government property, and 54 defendants were charged with theft of government property.

Of the 660 defendants who pleaded guilty to Jan. 6 charges, 30 percent were for felonies, and 70 percent were for misdemeanors, according to the report.

Some 122 defendants were found guilty at contested trials, all but three of whom were tried in U.S. District Court, with the rest in the District of Columbia Superior Court. Another 30 defendants were found guilty in stipulated trials based on an agreed-upon set of facts.

Of the 152 defendants found guilty at trial, 41 percent were convicted of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers and/or obstructing officers during a civil disorder, which are felonies, according to the report.

The FBI still seeks the identity of 304 individuals on its Capitol violence information page. The website includes photographs, videos, and wanted posters seeking the location of Jan. 6 fugitives.