Ray Epps, subject of Jan. 6 conspiracy theories, sentenced to 1 year probation

An Arizona man at the center of the Capitol attack’s most persistent conspiracy theories was sentenced Tuesday to a year of probation for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. 

Ray Epps, 62, pleaded guilty in September to one count as part of a deal with Justice Department prosecutors. He admitted to engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds after storming the Capitol.

A onetime supporter of former President Trump, whose false claims of election fraud spurred his trip to Washington three years ago, Epps’s sentencing got underway at the same time Trump was in D.C.’s federal courthouse. 

Trump’s legal team was arguing before a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals panel that his federal election interference case should be dismissed because he was acting in his official capacity as president. 

“Jan. 6 violence was not generated by the FBI; it was generated by people like me who supported President Trump and listened to his lies,” Epps told Chief Judge James Boasberg during his sentencing.

Epps said he now knows President Biden won the election, describing a “life-changing reality shift” when the “Trump cult” turned on him and his wife. He said he hopes to help others “learn the truth” of the 2020 election results and that he regrets his actions on Jan. 6.

“In hindsight, I realize that’s not what a constitution-loving American should have done,” he said. 

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Epps was also ordered Tuesday to pay $500 in restitution and to serve 100 hours of community service. 

Prosecutors requested six months in prison for Epps, who they said engaged in a “rugby scrum-like group effort” to shove past police officers.

“Even if Epps did not physically touch law enforcement officers or go inside of the building, he undoubtedly engaged in collective aggressive conduct,” the government wrote in its sentencing memo.  

However, several “distinctive and compelling mitigating factors” set Epps’s case apart from other rioters’ cases, prosecutors said. They noted Epps turned himself in two days after the riot and attempted to de-escalate conflict between law enforcement and rioters at least five times that day.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Gordon acknowledged to the judge Tuesday that Epps’s case is “uniquely complicated.” Boasberg said his sentencing decision was based in large part on Epps’s mitigating factors and past service to his community. 

Epps’s counsel requested probation, not prison time, noting he took responsibility for his role in the riot despite a previous determination by the FBI and U.S. attorney’s office that there was “insufficient evidence” to charge him. 

Ed Ungvarsky, Epps’s lawyer, told Boasberg on Tuesday that while “mob mentality” is, for many, “impossible” to break away from, his client did just that. In his sentencing memo, Ungvarsky argued Epps has “displayed remorse, accepted responsibility, and taken-on the brand of a convicted criminal that shames and embarrasses him and his family and will stain him for the rest of his life.”

As part of Epps’s plea agreement, the government said it would not prosecute him further in connection with the riot. Epps agreed for his social media to be reviewed by law enforcement and to pay $500 in restitution. 

A former Marine, Epps became the focus of conspiracy theories alleging he was an FBI informant who instigated violence that day to tarnish other rioters. The theories largely spawned from a Jan. 5, 2021, video where Epps is seen talking about heading to the Capitol the next day and images showing the Arizona man whispering with another rioter, who was later accused of being the first to breach police barricades.

The claims were amplified by conservative media like Fox News, which Epps sued this summer for allegedly spreading “destructive conspiracy theories” about him and his actions on Jan. 6. Epps has claimed his criminal charge was a byproduct of “the relentless attacks by Fox and Mr. [Tucker] Carlson and the resulting political pressure.” 

Epps gained national attention in a CBS “60 Minutes” interview in which he said he and his wife were “on the run” due to threats.

Gordon said in September that Epps was “not before, during or after” the Capitol riot “a confidential source or an undercover agent for the government, the FBI, DHS or any law enforcement.”

There is no evidence federal agents played a role in fomenting the Capitol attack three years ago. FBI Director Christopher Wray said last summer it’s “ludicrous” to suggest the agency or its assets helped orchestrate the riot.

“More than 700 [rioters] have been convicted in this courthouse — not one a member of ‘antifa’ or an FBI agent,” Boasberg said. 

More than 1,200 people have been charged in connection with the Capitol attack.

Updated at 12:34 p.m.