Reffitt, a member of the Texas Three Percenters militia, grew to become the primary Jan. 6 defendant to go earlier than a jury and was convicted on all 5 felony prices he confronted. Proof and testimony on the trial confirmed he drove to Washington with an acquaintance the day earlier than the riot, bringing two AR-15 rifles and a pistol together with him. The jury discovered that he had the pistol on his hip as he engaged in a tense standoff with police on the West Entrance of the Capitol. Reffitt was pelted with less-lethal weapons and tear fuel as he tried to advance up the steps, waving the gang ahead, however he by no means entered the constructing himself.

Because the sentencing listening to stretched into its fourth hour Monday, Friedrich had but to announce a sentence within the case. In concept, Reffitt may obtain as much as 60 years, however defendants are sometimes sentenced beneath federal pointers to phrases properly under the utmost.

Assistant U.S. Legal professional Jeffrey Nestler mentioned Reffitt’s discussions earlier than and after Jan. 6 clarify that he was intent on finishing up his repeated threats to pull Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell from the Capitol constructing by drive. In discussions caught on video, Reffitt was recorded referring to his need to take heed to the lawmaker’s heads bouncing down the Capitol steps.

“He was planning to overhaul our authorities. He wasn’t simply making an attempt to cease the certification,” Nestler mentioned. “He wasn’t accomplished. Jan. 6 was only a preface. … Mr Reffitt is in a category all by himself.”

Nevertheless, Friedrich mentioned prosecutors had urged a lot shorter sentences in instances involving individuals who have been instantly concerned in precise violence in opposition to police.

“You’re making suggestions which are manner totally different than you’re making on this case — manner totally different,” mentioned the choose, an appointee of President Donald Trump.

Friedrich additionally mentioned she fearful that Reffitt not be unduly punished for deciding to go to trial, fairly than enter right into a plea discount with prosecutors.

“His resolution to train his constitutional proper to go to trial shouldn’t end in a dramatically totally different sentence,” she mentioned.

Nestler additionally famous that Reffitt was convicted of getting a handgun on his hip whereas on the Capitol grounds, which Friedrich conceded that was an essential distinction from the opposite instances to succeed in sentencing to this point.

“Enormous, large … and does the firearm deserve 3 times the sentence if it was not brandished or utilized in any manner?” the choose requested.

One other uncommon side of Reffitt’s case is that he was convicted of threatening to injure his two kids in the event that they mentioned his actions on Jan. 6 with authorities. A kind of kids, Peyton Reffitt, spoke briefly throughout Monday’s listening to to induce leniency for her father. She recommended that Trump was extra liable for the occasions that day than her father was.

“My father’s title was not on all of the flags that have been there that day that everybody was carrying that day,” Peyton mentioned. “He was not the chief.”

A number of occasions throughout Monday’s listening to, Friedrich recommended she thought Reffitt suffered from delusions of grandeur and that his resolution to go to trial earlier this yr was a part of his effort to posture as a pacesetter of these combating the certification of the election.

“He needs to be the large man — the primary to attempt to storm the Capitol, the primary to go trial,” the choose mentioned. “Clearly, that’s what he needs.”

Reffitt’s lawyer Clinton Broden acknowledged that, at occasions, his shopper was on the forefront of the gang on the West Entrance of the Capitol. Nevertheless, the protection legal professional argued that the offended crowd was decided to surge in direction of the constructing whether or not Reffitt waved them on or not.

“These folks would have come up the steps no matter Mr. Reffitt and I believe everyone knows that,” Broden mentioned.