Guy Reffitt

Washington — A federal judge on Monday sentenced Guy Reffitt, the Texas man convicted of bringing a handgun to the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack, to 87 ...

It was another man's name," referring to former President Donald Trump, who addressed his throngs of supporters near the White House before they marched on the Capitol. Jackson described the threat his dad had made against him and his sister, Peyton, when they tried to turn him in: "If you turn me in you're a traitor, and traitors get shot." He said his father needed mental health care, which Friedrich said she would require as part of the sentence. "He didn't just want President Trump to stay in power," Nestler said. F. Clinton Broden, Reffitt's new attorney, disagreed with prosecutors' characterization of his client. Five others have been convicted by judges at bench trials. Reffitt's defense team had urged the judge to sentence him to no more than two years behind bars. He was found guilty in March of five criminal counts, including obstructing Congress' certification of President Biden's Electoral College win. Still, the sentence is the lengthiest handed down for a Jan. 6 defendant to date. The prosecutor alleged that Jan. 6 was "the beginning" for Reffitt. "He wanted the rest of his militia group to start taking over state capitols all around the country," Nestler said. In seeking the lengthier sentence, prosecutors said in court filings that Reffitt played a central role as part of the mob on Jan. 6, and intended "to use his gun and police-style flexicuffs to forcibly drag legislators out of the building and take over Congress." Addressing the court during Monday's hearing, Reffitt admitted he acted like a "f***ing idiot" on Jan. 6 and said he regretted his actions, apologizing to Congress and the officers he encountered that day.

The Three Percenters recruiter, the first Jan. 6 defendant convicted at trial, was found guilty of leading the charge while armed that led to the break-in ...

The first U.S. Capitol riot defendant convicted at trial was sentenced to more than seven years in prison Monday, the longest punishment handed down to date over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress.

Guy Wesley Reffitt was convicted in March on five counts in a case viewed as a test for the Justice Department.

But because Mr. Reffitt did not plead guilty like hundreds of others arrested in connection with the attack and went to trial, Judge Friedrich said, the sentencing guidelines for his case were two years more than if he had reached a plea deal. But Judge Friedrich described Mr. Reffitt’s case as unusual on account of threats of violence he made against his children when he discovered he might be swept up in the federal investigation following the riot. The sentence comes as a parallel investigation being carried out by the House Jan. 6 committee has been gaining momentum. Prosecutors had asked that Mr. Reffitt be given 15 years after adding a sentencing enhancement used in cases of domestic terrorism. After a six-hour hearing, Judge Dabney L. Friedrich handed down a sentence at the low end of the guideline range. The sentencing capped a trial that was seen as an important test for the Justice Department, which is only beginning the marathon process of trying what could be scores of rioters.