The former leader of the Proud Boys has been sentenced to 22 years in prison and 36 months of supervised release – the longest sentence given to any person in connection to Jan. 6.
Enrique Tarrio appeared in federal court in Washington DC, on Sept. 5 after nearly a week-long delay.
Tarrio was convicted of seditious conspiracy in May after the federal government accused him and four other Proud Boys of plotting to disrupt election proceedings on Jan. 6, 2021, at the nation’s Capitol.
Tarrio was not in Washington, DC, on the day of the riot.
“I have been selfish,” said Tarrio while addressing the court. “I have made strides to be a better man during my incarceration.”
Tarrio, 39, asked U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly not to take his 40s from him and expressed his desire to get married and start a family.
“I am not a political zealot,” Tarrio said. “I didn’t even think it was possible to change the results of an election.”
Judge Kelly found that the terrorism enhancement sought by the Department of Justice should be applied as there is a “preponderance of the evidence that Tarrio was a leader or organizer of the activity that involved five or more people.”
“What happened that day damaged an important American custom that helps support the rule of law and the Constitution. That day broke our previously unbroken tradition of peacefully transferring power,” Kelly said before handing down his verdict. “It’s kind of hard to put into words how important that peaceful transfer of power is.”
Tarrio’s lawyers argued against the enhancement, saying that while he was “was the leader of the Proud Boys,” he was “definitely not the leader of the events of January 6th.”
“It was not his intention to bring down the United States government or overthrow the United States government,” Tarrio’s lawyer says, per Vice News journalist Greg Walters. Tarrio’s representation asked the judge for no more than 15 years in prison.
Tarrio is the group’s last member accused of conspiracy to receive his sentence. After Kelly fell ill, the Florida resident’s original Aug. 30 sentencing was delayed.
Joe Biggs, 39, was sentenced to 17 years in prison, and Zachary Rehl, 38, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Aug. 31. Ethan Nordean, 32, was sentenced to 18 years on Aug. 1. All three men also received a terrorism enhancement.
The Justice Department had requested sentences between 27 to 33 years for each man, including Tarrio.
Dominic Pezzola, 46, was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but received ten years in prison for assaulting a police officer and obstructing an official proceeding.
“It was a national disgrace, what happened,” Judge Kelly said during Pezzola’s sentence, per the BBC.
Before Tarrio’s sentence, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes received the longest sentence in connection to Jan. 6. Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years in prison in November 2022.
More than 1,100 people have been federally charged in connection to the event of Jan. 6, and over 600 people have been sentenced. At least 350 people have been charged with assault or impeding law enforcement.
