By Steve Neavling
The Justice Department is urging a judge to sentence Oath Keepers founder Steward Rhodes to 25 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of seditious conspiracy and other offenses in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The DOJ is also asking a judge to sentence another leader of the far-right group, Kelly Meggs, to 21 years after he was convicted of seditious conspiracy in November, Reuters reports.
The prison sentences would be the longest imposed for a Capitol rioter.
Rhodes and Megs were among 10 members of the Oath Keepers who were convicted of seditious conspiracy, which is a plot to oppose the government with force.
The defendants should be sentenced more harshly than other rioters because they “played a central and damning role” in the siege, prosecutors said.
They are scheduled to be sentenced later this month.
So far, the longest prison sentence for a Capitol rioter was 14 years and two months for Peter Schwartz, of Pennsylvania, who was armed with a wooden tire knocker and assaulted several officers during the Jan. 6 attack. He was sentenced Friday.
