Federal prosecutors seek a 15-year prison sentence for a Texas man convicted of storming the U.S. Capitol with a holstered handgun. It would be the longest sentence for a defendant sentenced for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal prosecutors are seeking a 15-year prison sentence for a Texas man who was convicted of storming the U.S. Capitol with a holstered handgun, calling him a militia group member who took a central role in the pro-Trump mob's attack, according to a court filing Friday.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich is scheduled to sentence Reffitt on Aug. 1. The judge isn't bound by any of the recommendations or the sentencing guidelines calculated by the court’s probation department, which call for a sentence ranging from nine years to 11 years and three months, Prosecutors argue that an “upward departure for terrorism” is warranted in Reffitt’s case, which would lead to significantly longer sentence if the judge agrees to apply it. They say the trial evidence showed that Reffitt planned for weeks ahead of January to travel to Washington, D.C., “with the specific intent of attacking the Capitol and taking over Congress.”
Prosecutors say Reffitt was a leader of a Texas militia group. He told other militia group members that he planned to drag House Speaker Nancy Pelosi out of the Capitol building by her ankles,"with her head hitting every step on the way down," Nestler wrote.During the trial’s closing arguments, U.S. Attorney Risa Berkower told jurors that Reffitt proudly “lit the fire” that allowed others in a mob to overwhelm Capitol police officers near the Senate doors.
Reffitt drove to Washington, D.C., with Rocky Hardie, who said he and Reffitt were members of the Texas Three Percenters militia group. The Three Percenters militia movement refers to the myth that only 3% of Americans fought in the Revolutionary War against the British.
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