Washington — A federal choose on Monday sentenced Man Reffitt, the Texas man convicted of bringing a handgun to the Capitol in the course of the Jan. 6 assault, to 87 months in jail, the longest sentence to date associated to the 2021 assault.
A member of the far-right militia group the Texas Three Percenters, Reffitt was the primary defendant to face trial on costs stemming from the assault. He was discovered responsible in March of 5 legal counts, together with obstructing Congress’ certification of President Biden’s Electoral School win.
The 7.25-year sentence was far shorter than the 15 years sought by prosecutors, who argued that the punishment needs to be extra extreme since Reffitt’s actions amounted to terrorism. At a sentencing listening to on Monday in federal court docket in Washington, D.C., Decide Dabney Friedrich disagreed, citing different Jan. 6 circumstances during which prosecutors didn’t search such an enhancement.
Nonetheless, the sentence is the lengthiest handed down for a Jan. 6 defendant so far. Two different defendants obtained sentences of 63 months earlier this yr for his or her roles within the assault. Reffitt’s protection workforce had urged the choose to condemn him to not more than two years behind bars.
Reffitt may also be on probation for 3 years upon his launch, and should pay a $2,00zero high-quality.
Addressing the court docket throughout Monday’s listening to, Reffitt admitted he acted like a “f***ing fool” on Jan. 6 and mentioned he regretted his actions, apologizing to Congress and the officers he encountered that day.
William J. Hennessy, Jr.
“I used to be slightly too loopy,” he mentioned to a skeptical Friedrich. “I used to be not pondering clearly.”
The choose mentioned it was tough to not see the apology as something however “halfhearted,” significantly given some conspiratorial statements he has made in regards to the occasions of Jan. 6 since his arrest.
“What he and others who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 did is the antithesis of patriotism,” the choose mentioned earlier than handing down the sentence.
In searching for the lengthier sentence, prosecutors mentioned in court docket filings that Reffitt performed a central function as a part of the mob on Jan. 6, and meant “to make use of his gun and police-style flexicuffs to forcibly drag legislators out of the constructing and take over Congress.”
Assistant U.S. Lawyer Jeffrey Nestler advised Friedrich that Reffitt “puffed himself up” because the chief of the mob, waving the remainder of the rioters on as he confronted police on the Capitol’s west entrance.
“He did not simply need President Trump to remain in energy,” Nestler mentioned. “He wished to bodily and actually take away Congress.”
The prosecutor alleged that Jan. 6 was “the start” for Reffitt. “He wished the remainder of his militia group to start out taking up state capitols throughout the nation,” Nestler mentioned.
Former U.S. Capitol Police Officer Shauni Kerkhoff, who confronted Reffitt exterior the Capitol on Jan. 6, implored the choose to condemn Reffitt to the utmost sentence doable underneath the regulation.
“His actions weren’t acts of patriotism. They have been acts of home terrorism,” Kerkhoff mentioned.
Prosecutors mentioned Reffitt additionally threatened his kids once they wished to report him to authorities.
At his trial, Reffitt’s 19-year-old son Jackson — who turned his father in to regulation enforcement — advised the jury that he had discovered of his father’s membership within the mob when he noticed his mom and sister watching information protection of the occasions that day. Jackson described the menace his dad had made towards him and his sister, Peyton, once they tried to show him in: “When you flip me in you are a traitor, and traitors get shot.”
In court docket on Monday, prosecutors learn a letter from Jackson to the choose, during which he described the “painful, gradual story” of his father’s descent into conspiracy theories. He mentioned his father wanted psychological well being care, which Friedrich mentioned she would require as a part of the sentence.
Through the trial, Reffitt’s lawyer on the time known as no witnesses, and Reffitt didn’t testify in his personal protection.
F. Clinton Broden, Reffitt’s new lawyer, disagreed with prosecutors’ characterization of his shopper. He argued in written memos and in court docket that Reffitt by no means really entered the Capitol, by no means eliminated the handgun from his holster and “by no means gave any indication he would really hurt his kids.”
Peyton, the defendant’s daughter, spoke emotionally in court docket on Monday in assist of her father and defined that his psychological well being was an actual situation.
Wiping away tears, Peyton mentioned, “My father’s title wasn’t on the flags that have been there that day, that everybody was carrying. It was one other man’s title,” referring to former President Donald Trump, who addressed his throngs of supporters close to the White Home earlier than they marched on the Capitol.
Friedrich, the choose, appeared most involved with Reffitt’s psychological well being and prospects as soon as he’s ultimately freed, at one level asking, “What is that this man going to do after he’s launched from jail?”
“It is actually disturbing that he repeatedly persists with these views which are method exterior the mainstream,” she added, “His claims [about attempts to overthrow the government] are flawed.”
Friedrich additionally took situation with Reffitt’s violent threats towards lawmakers like Speaker of the Home Nancy Pelosi.
“To this present day, he has not disavowed these feedback,” she mentioned.
Since Reffitt’s conviction by a 12-person jury, 5 extra defendants have been discovered responsible by juries. 5 others have been convicted by judges at bench trials. One defendant, Matthew Martin, was acquitted of a number of misdemeanor counts by a choose.
Outdoors of court docket on Monday, earlier than the sentence was imposed, Reffitt’s spouse Nicole advised CBS Information she believed prosecutors’ illustration of her husband was a “misrepresentation.”
“He is a great man,” she mentioned.
Cristina Corujo contributed to this report.
