DOJ seeking 33 years in prison for ex-Proud Boys leader in Jan. 6 case

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking 33 years in prison for former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy earlier this year in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

He and four other Proud Boys in May were convicted of entering a seditious conspiracy against the U.S. government to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

As national chairman of the right-wing extremist group, Tarrio was a “naturally charismatic leader” and “a savvy propagandist,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memo published late Thursday.

“In that capacity, he had influence over countless subordinate members of his group and members of the general public, and he used that influence to organize and execute the conspiracy to forcibly stop the peaceful democratic transfer of power,” they wrote.

Though Tarrio was not at the Capitol on Jan. 6, prosecutors portrayed him as the leader and main driver of a plot to keep former President Trump in power.

The 396-month recommended sentence is the longest the DOJ has requested for individuals linked to the Capitol attack and, if accepted by a judge, would be the longest sentence given. Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, who was convicted of sedition last year for his role in the riot, currently holds the longest sentence for Jan. 6 rioters, of 18 years.

Prosecutors are also recommending a 33-year sentence for Joe Biggs, a Florida Proud Boy convicted of sedition earlier this year. A one-time correspondent for conspiracist Alex Jones’s “InfoWars,” Biggs was accused of leading Proud Boys to the Capitol and talking with the first person to breach police barricades just minutes before he acted.

For Zachary Rehl, president of Philadelphia’s Proud Boys chapter, prosecutors are asking for a 30-year sentence. They’re recommending a 27-year sentence for Washington state Proud Boy Ethan Nordean. Both men were convicted of sedition.

Dominic Pezzola, the only Proud Boy acquitted of seditious conspiracy following the months-long trial, should receive a prison sentence of 20 years, prosecutors say. He was convicted of other serious felonies, including obstruction of an official proceeding, and assaulting, resisting and impeding certain officers.

According to court filings, Biggs requested a sentence under three years, Rehl a sentence of three years or less, Nordean a sentence under two years and Pezzola a five-year sentence.

Tarrio on Friday asked the court for less prison time than the DOJ recommends, arguing against the use of a terrorism enhancement in deciding his sentence. He did not request a specific sentencing range. 

The Proud Boys grew in notoriety when Trump urged them to “stand back and stand by” during his first debate against President Biden. During a four-month trial, prosecutors said the Proud Boys saw themselves as “Donald Trump’s army,” participating in every major breach of the building that day.

“The defendants understood the stakes, and they embraced their role in bringing about a ‘revolution,'” prosecutors wrote in court filings. “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,” the prosecutors continued. “They failed.”

Updated at 1:57 p.m.