DOJ seeks 33 years in prison for ex-Proud Boys leader — longest January 6 sentence yet

According to court documents filed on Thursday, Biden's Department of Justice is seeking 33 years in prison for former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, the New York Post reported.

Tarrio, arrested in March 2022, was convicted of seditious conspiracy earlier this year. Prosecutors argued that even though Tarrio did not attend the January 6, 2021, rally at the United States Capitol, he played a significant role in organizing and directing the protest.

Several other Proud Boys members, including Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, and Zachary Rehl, were also convicted of seditious conspiracy. Tarrio and the other three members were found guilty of obstructing Congress' certification of Biden's presidential election victory and conspiracy to obstruct Congress.

"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," Justice Department prosecutors stated in their court filings regarding the Proud Boys. "The foot soldiers of the right aimed to keep their leader in power. They failed. They are not heroes; they are criminals."

If the prosecution's recommendation of 33 years in prison is imposed, Tarrio will have received the longest sentence related to the January 6 rally at the Capitol. In a separate case, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was also convicted of seditious conspiracy, received 18 years in prison.

Prosecutors are also seeking a 33-year sentence for Tarrio's co-defendant, Biggs, who was alleged to be an organizer for the Proud Boys. Rehl, the president of the Proud Boys' Philadelphia chapter, is potentially facing 30 years in prison at the request of the DOJ. Prosecutors requested 27 years for Washington chapter president Nordean and 20 years for Proud Boys member Dominic Pezzola, who was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted on other charges.

Prosecutors alleged the men used "intimidation and coercion" to attempt to influence the government and, therefore, should each receive a "terrorism enhancement" that would impose longer sentences.

The members' attorneys argued that the prosecution's proposed sentences were excessive.

Attorney Norm Pattis stated, "The defendants are not terrorists. Whatever excesses of zeal they demonstrated on January 6, 2021, and no matter how grave the potential interference with the orderly transfer of power due to the events of that day, a decade or more behind bars is an excessive punishment."

Tarrio and the other Proud Boys members will be sentenced later this month.

The federal probes into the events that took place on January 6 mark the largest investigation conducted by the DOJ in American history.

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